• • THE . • 



CHICK BOOK 



FROM THE BREEDING PEN THROUGH THE SHELL TO 

MATURITY 



Contains the Experience of ttie World's Leading Pouitrymen 
and All the Latest and Most Trustworthy Information About 
Hatching, Rearing, Fattening and Marketing Chickens 



PRICE, FIFTY CENTS 



PUBLISHED BY 
KKr.IABLE POVLTRY JOURNAL PlTBLISHlNG COMPANY 
''' QUINCY, iLLrNOIS 



UBRARYol OONGHESS 
(wo Copies rteceivod 

MAY 15 1905 

^^ Jouyrium tnir> j. 
Class a-- AXc. N« 
COPY 6. 



COPYRIGHT BY 

ikELiABLE Poultry Journal Publishing Company 

QuiNCY, Illinois 

1905 



-^ 



<^t^ 




4 SUCGESTlOy OF PLEASURE AND PROFIT. 



THE CHICK BOOK-INTRODUCTORY. 



SucceMS In Hatching and Rearing the Chicks Is a Chief Essential to Profitable Poultry Keeping— How to Obtain 
the Knowledge Required for Success and How to Apply that Knowledge, 



HE poultryman's profit depends in a great meas- 
ure upon his success in rearing the chiclis. Suc- 
cess is attained only by intelligent use of cor- 
rect methods. If the incubation, growth and 
development of the chicle are not attended by 
such conditions as produce and maintain the good health 
necessary for building a vigorous body and strong consti- 
tution, the grown bird does not have the power to produce, 
or earn, more than a nominal profit for its owner, however 
well it is housed and cared for. Nor does the negative ef- 
fect stop at the profit of the first year; the progeny of such 
birds is not only weak and unremunerative, but if raised 
under like conditions will be less valuable than the parents 
and such rapid deterioration will render the flock abso- 
lutely unprofitable in two generations. On the other hand, 
chicks well hatched, from good eggs, if given intelligent 
care and surrounded with the essentials required for proper 
growth and robust development, will mature into fowls 
which are capable of returning to their owner the last cent 
.in payment for the food and accommodations provided. Such 
methods increase the productive efficiency of succeeding 
generations and the road to a competence is auspiciously 
opened. 

If the chicks iu hand are to be marketed as squab 
broilers, broilers or roasters, the problem of improving 
them for stock purposes is eliminated; but the necessity 
for painstaking effort is not lessened, if indeed it is not in- 
crease<l. 

The chick destined for the market must make .t very 
rapid growth; not so much of bone and muscle, as of flesh 
and fat, and to do this in the least tim^ assures the great- 
est profit. Conditions, too, at the time when such chicks 
must be grown to command the top price must be largely 
artificial. Natural conditions must be approximated as 
closely as may be, or the young birds cannot stand the 
heavy feeding necessary to produce the results that count. 
To one whose heart is in the work, it is as interesting as 
it is important and offers opportunity for the full exercise 
of both his mental and physical faculties. 

That a large per cent of all strong chicks hatched can 
be raised to the age tor maketing. or to maturity, is not 
disputed. The present-day appliances greatly facilitate the 
work, and prepared foods, selling at reasonable prices, 
simplify the problems of feeding. Establishments properly 
equipped and handled are raising chicks in numbers that 
were scarcely dreamed of two decades ago, and by placing 
them on the market in good condition at a time when the 
majority of producers have nothing to offer, they obtain ex- 
treme prices. Later in the season when the market is 
filled with chickens from farmers and less energetic and 
less up-to-date poultrymen, the large raisers, with their 
better equipment and thorough knowledge of the business, 
are able to place their goods on sale in more attractive 
condition and at a lower cost of production than their com- 
petitors, securing a better price and larger profit. 

This is not' intended to indicate that large plants are 
the only ones that can and do accomplish satisfactory re- 



sults. Small plants are doing good and remunerative work 
on a smaller scale; some are growing chicks for market, and 
others for stock purchases; some are doing the work by 
artificial methods, while not a few hold to the motherly 
hen of thirteen eggs capacity. 

After giving due credit to the appliances and improved 
foods, for the part they play in producing good chickens, 
the major share is left to be distributed between hard, con- 
scientious work and well grounded knowledge of the busi- 
ness. Of all these factors knowledge is the greatest and 
the one most difficult to secure. When it is found it com- 
mands its own price. 

How Knowledge Is Obtained. 

There are two ways of acquiring this knowledge: by 
years of costly experience and by carefui study of the best 
poultry literature, supplemented and verified by practical 
experience. The former, although good, and enduring as 
the hills, places a man too near the far end of life's jour- 
ney when it graduates him and burns up money which 
ought to be saved and invested in the business. The latter 
is the shorter road and enables one, by taking advantage 
of the experience of others and avoiding their mistakes, 
to cut cress lots to success with money in his pocket. 

The printed wisdom of poultry .-ulture is as far ahead 
of that of ten years ago as can be imagined. In gathering 
the material for this book the same sources of information 
have been drawn upon that furnished the matter for the 
other popular books published by this company; that is, 
the poultrymen and women who have made a substantial 
success in the business and who are specially fitted to write 
upon the subjects assigned them. 

Such information, though difficult and expensive to 
obtain, is valuable almost beyond estimating. It consists 
not in dry rules and dogmatically expressed theories, but 
in the live expeiience of men in the field, with the whys 
and wherefores for every step and dependable guidance at 
every turn. It is information that can be trusted to the 
letter. Bv following it the mistakes of the novice can be 
avoided and the methods of 'he more experienced may be 
improved. 

This is not a one-man book, but a broad-gauge one. 
holding out to the reader several courses which have proved 
successful so that he may choose from them whatever seems 
best adapted to his requirements. 

Condition of the Breeding Stock. 

Securing good condition in breeding birds is not ditii- 
cult. Any pouitryman worthy the name selects each sea- 
son birds having the development and style that denote 
vigor and constitution while selecting the shape re- 
quired for the variety at hand. It is a fact that birds of 
standard size and shape are not produced year after year by 
any but healthy, vigorous stock. Constitutional- vigor is 
the .source of strong procreative power and is built up only 
by careful breeding for a term of years. 

With this characteristic well established, it remains 
only to maintain good health and noi-mal condition of flesh 



6 



THE CHICK BOOK 



to produce eggs that will bring forth chicks that live, thrive 
and make a profit. In this connection it is safe to remember 
that appearance, although a good indicator of health, is 
not infallible, for a bird may seem to be in the best of 
condition, when it is unable to produce a fertile egg. Sup- 
ply the food and conditions required and trust to nothing 
less, whatever the appearances, to bring about the desired 
results. 

Every effort should be made to conserve the energy and 
maintain the strength during the winter, when conditions 
are largely artificial. This does not mean that all profit 
from the birds in a practical way must be lost or that hens 
may not lay well during the winter and produce fertile 
eggs in the spring. The best rule to follow is this: provide 
as well as possible the exercise, fresh air and foods that 
the hen would get if allowed her freedom on a grass range 
in summer. 

We cannot lay down a rule for feeding. What will pro- 
duce good results in one yard will not always do so in an- 
other, because of different conditions. Sufficient informa- 
tion upon the feeding values of all commercial foods and 
their effects upon birds under various conditions is avail- 
able, so that a little experience and intelligent obsei-vation 
will enable any one to compound the ration best adapted 
to the needs of his flock. 

Incubating the Eggs. 

That the up-to-date hatchers can be depended upon to 
do their full share toward making the poultryman inde- 
pendent requires no argtiment. Good eggs and proper hand- 
ling by the operator will assure good hatches of vigorous 
chicks. An understanding of the machine and how to con- 
trol it, with some knowledge of how to treat eggs during 
the period of incubation and of the essentials of correct 
environments, constitutes the wisdom required for successful 
hatching. 

We find incubators operating in dark cellars, where 
there is no light except that of burning kerosene; where 
good air enters by chance and not from intention, and the 
atmosphere is damp and laden with germs of decay and dis- 
ease. Again we find them located in rooms above ground, 
in houses built for the purpose, in dwellings and in rooms 
partitioned off in the barn, poultry house and shed where 
the air, though dry, is seldom renewed and light from the 
sun is rigidly excluded that a more even temperature may 
be maintained. 

A strong man could not stay in one of these places an 
hour and the flame that heats the incubator frequently has 
difficulty in collecting enough oxygen for perfect combus- 
tion. To expect to develop so delicate an organism as an 
embryo chick under such conditions, is nothing less than 
folly; yet some people attempt it and, tailing, denounce the 
machine and artificial incubation. How to provide the 
proper environment and successfully operate the machines 
is plainly told in succeeding pages. 

Brooding the Chicks. 
There are good brooders and brooding systems, and 
good foods ready to feed. These ready made factors in 
success are easily obtained, but tor their efficiency they 
depend upon the discriminating mind of one skilled in the 
work. In no other branch of the business is the effect of 
level thinking and well directed effort more noticeable. 
Five minutes in a brooding house will frequently enable 
the intelligent observer to estimate correctly the ability of 
the man in charge; for the appearance of the chicks is the 
best possible evidence and no flock of chicks is healthy and 
vigorous that does not look so. 



It is of primary importance that every aid to good 
health is supplied, for enfeebled constitutions are as fre- 
quently caused by bad housing, brooding and care as by 
improper feeding. 

Cleanliness, good ventilation and exercise exert more 
influence than the novice is prone to believe. As the black- 
smith's arm grows strong by constant use, the physical 
structure of the chicks grows strong and is kept In trim by 
running about and scratching in clean quarters, where fresh 
air supplies the material for myrials of lite-giving blood 
corpuscles and the digestive organs are made capable of 
converting to the body's use all the nutriment the food con- 
tains. 

Hatching and Raising With Hens. 

There are more than a tew who, though, they admit 
the practical worth of artificial methods, still cleave to the 
ways of their grandparents and find satisfaction and profit 
in so doing. The usefulness of the broody hen Is by no 
means a thing of the past. The breeder with a sitting of 
eggs from a favorite hen to be hatched and the chicks reared 
by themselves, the owner of the farm yard flock and the 
village poultryman with a dozen hens find biddy up-to- 
date and sufficient for their needs. 

So much latter-day intelligence has been applied to 
chicken culture that sometimes it becomes too great a bur- 
den and the hen is divested alike of her natural responsi- 
bilities and of her opportunities. Our forefathers allowed 
the old hen to have pretty much her own way and she, 
taking advantage of the good things that nature provides, 
not alone hatched and raised the chicks at less cost, but 
presented better chicks. Nature's ways are more resultful 
than the made-to-order methods sometimes recommended. 
The hen that is allowed to run with her chicks in the day- 
time, searching for the nutritious worm and balancing the 
supplied ration by the food selected from field and swamp, 
will raise a brood that is a credit to the breeder and that 
will stand him in good stead the following winter. The suc- 
cessful raisers approximate these conditions as closely as 
the circumstances permit. 

Maturing the Flock. 

A chick well started is half raised; but it must be well 
cared for, or it will not win In the show room, or command 
a premium in the market. Good care does not mean that 
manner of feeding and housing which pampers the birds, 
but the care that supplies them with plenty of good food 
and an environment conducive to their physical welfare. 
The plan of colonizing the youngsters in roomy, open front 
roosting coops, works wonders toward the production of 
sturdy stock and hopper feeding not alone reduces the 
labor involved, but in many cases seams to hasten growth 
faster than the time honored system of three meals a day. 

The Value of Common Sense. 

This is an age of practical things in poultry culture 
and the application of common sense to all its problems is 
fast clearing it of much of the theory which has been 
"thrust upon" it. It is the person who goes at the work 
with sleeves rolled up whose success can be counted in big 
round dollars and whose advice is worth all it costs to every 
earnest worker. 

The experience of such men, and women, too, is given 
in detail in this book and we recommend their articles to 
the reader with full assurance that their advice may be 
taken for its face value. H. A. NOURSE. 



OPERATING AN INCUBATOR, 



Hints on Buying the Incubator and Becoming Acquainted with Its Use— The Advantages of Testing the Eggs— Why Pure 
Air Is ISecessary—The Difficulties of Late Hatching— The Importance of Good, Hatchable Eggs. 



ByA.F. Hunter. 



ANY people are intending to buy an incubator and 
brooder, and some suggestions io tiiat end will be 
timely. Do not put off buying too long. Do not 
wait until you need to begin hitcinug. There are 
very manifest advantages in getting the incubator into your 
possession, and becoming to a certain exteijt familiar with 
it. We know a man who intended l.o buy an incubator, but 
put it off, for one reason or another, until it was time to 
begin hatching, and, indeed, he had actually begun saving 
eggs for hatching. He then sent the money for the incuba- 
tor and asked the manufacturers to "please hurry it along." 
They shipped it at cnce, but he, aftar waiting some ten days, 
wrote to know why his incubator had not arrived. As it 
was on the way, all the manufacturers could do was to start 
a "tracer" after it, and the incubator and tracer reached the 
man's railway station practically togethf^r ■— the incubator 
having been thirteen days on the road. 

While such a delay may be unusual, still, there are pos- 
sible delays, owing to the transfer of the machine from one 
r.'^ilway to another at a junction, and that ineans unloading 
it onto one platform, trundling it to another platform and 
loading on another car, etc., etc., etc.; my one who is ac- 
quainted with freight shipments knows the vexatious delays 
that are possible. Therefore, we say buy your machine in 
good time so as to avoid the possible misfortune of delay 
in transportation. Another point is that you get an oppor- 
tunity to get the machine set up at a time when you have 
plenty of leisure to do it right and get the conditions right; 
you can also take time to get acquainted v.-ith the machine 
so as to run it to the best advantage and greatest conven- 
ience to yourself. That point of getting acquainted with 
the machine is a most important one. 

We have a letter from a lady in Montana who says that 
she bought an incubator last spring, got it home lo her 
house about noon, went to work uncrating it and setting it 
up as soon as she had eaten her dinner, and at 5 o'clock in 
the afternoon put the eggs Into it. A littls consideration of 
the risks those eggs were subjected to will illustrate the 
point. She had never seen an incubator before and had no 
idea of running one excepting what she got in the directions 
sent with the Incubator. As fortune favored her, she got a 
good hatch, but ihe chances were certainly very much 
against it; and it is very foolish to take chances when we 
can avoid them by taking time by the forelock. It is good, 
sound advice to take three or four days in which to gradu- 
ally warm up the machine to the desired temperature, see 



that the regulation is properly adjusted to tae desired point, 
become familiar with the individuality of the lamp so that 
the flame can be set at pretty nearly the same point after 
each filling and trimming,— in fact, become "familiar" with 
the methods of operating the incubator. This is purely ele- 
mentary advice, but the great bulk of incubator buyers are 
iVmateurs, and very many of them have never operated In- 
cubators before, hence these same "A, B, C" points have to 
be gone over every season in order to be.'^t help those who 
are just starting with incubators. 

Test the Eggs. 

A not uncommon fault of inexperienceii incubator oper- 
ators is to neglect testing the eggs. This is a mistake (or 
several reasons. First, there is always a proportion of eggs 
that are absolutely clear, running usually from 10 to 25 or 
30 per cent, and those clear eggs are perfectly good for cook- 
ing. They are not quite fresh, of course, since the six or 
seven days that they have been in the machine have 
"staled" them to a certain extent, but no more than if they 

had lain on the counter of a country store for a few weeks 

as is very frequently the case. Large operators usually sell 
those infertile eggs to bakers and confectioners, and they 
are used up in making cakes, pies, custards, etc 

A decided advantage in removing from the trays those 
clear eggs is that there is more room for the fertile eggs in 
the trays, and they can be turned and handled more easily; 
even if no second test is made, a first test, to take out the 
clear eggs, certainly should be made. 

A second test about the fourteenth or nfteenth day, to 
remove germs that have died since the first test, is a help 
to a good hatch. Those dead eggs usually throw off slight 
odors or deleterious matter, hence a good hatch is promoted 
by getting them out of the machine. Another argument for 
testing eggs is that it increases one's knowledge of embry- 
onic life and development, and enhances the interest of 
artificial incubation. A good tester is sent out with every 
incubator sold and we strongly urge the buyer to start 
right.— and learning to test his eggs is an important part of 
that start. 

Dark shelled and thick shelled eggs are more difficult 
for an amateur to test than are the more common white- 
shelled eggs, for the reason that the light does not shine 
through them so well, and even an experienced tester may 
mistake a clear egg for a probable germ; that is, the yolk 
may throw a shadow that will have the appearance of a 
good, strong germ. 



THE CHICK BOOK 



It is well in learning to test to break a few eggs that 
one is doubtful of and learn the appearance of clear eggs, 
dead germs, strong-living germs, etc. Do not be afraid to 
sacrifice a dozen or two of eggs in the interesi. of gaining 
knowledge — it is a good investment in the long run. 
Supply Fresh Air. 

Be certain that there is an abundant supply of fresh air 
in the incubator room at all times. A serious mistake of 
beginners is being afraid that a little fresh air will jeopard- 
ize the hatch. It is important to remember that if you 
have 150 living germs in an incubator all of those 150 living 
organisms are consuming oxygen jvcry day .and every min- 
ute of the day, hence it is important that they be abundantly 
supplied with that life-giving element. If the ineubf-lor is 
in a moderately warm place, say about 60 degrees, more air 



or soft-roasters early in the spring. Having the incubator 
and brooder equipment and the winter season being a time 
when the farm work does not crowd so hard, it is natural 
to think of having some chickens to bring forward to mar- 
ket; the cash received from selling them is always welcome. 
A most important point in starting the incubators is that 
they be carefully and thoroughly cieauod up, especially on 
the inside where the actual work of incubating is done. It 
is not so well known as it should be tha. disease germs 
lurk in iincleaned incubators and brooi'ors and that not a 
small proportion of the mortality of baby chicks is due to 
the unsanitary condition of incubators and brooders. A few 
years ago the Rhode Island Experiment St.ition was much 
troubled with this mortality of baby chicks, and some hun- 
dreds of cases were carefully examined for the purpose of 




An Incubator Mouse Banked with tiarlh to Protect It Against Changes of Tempen tare. 



can be admitted to the machine and the eggs can bo cooled 
and aired a longer time than if the machine is in a consider- 
ably colder place. This means that cooling and airing the 
eggs should be much less in coid weather than in mild, 
spring weather; then, too, you can do decidedly more cool- 
ing and airing the last third of the hatch than earlier, and 
the living embryos will be the better for i;. The practice 
of operators varies considerably, some cooling and airing 
the eggs a great deal after the flr.<!C week and there are some 
who cool and air from the very start almost. Generally 
speaking, however, if the incubator i.^- in a cool place it 
will be found that the eggs get sufficiently cooled and aired 
at the daily turning the first week, then a few minutes a day 
the second week, and the last week (up to the time of pip- 
ping) five to ten minutes a day is none too much. In- 
deed, if the animal heat in the eggs is strong and the tem- 
perature of the incubator room is 60 degrees or aliove. quite 
a long airing daily will be beneficial.. 

Some of the Difficulties of Late Hatching. 
Some poultry raisers start hatching in the fall, with 
the purpose to have broiler chickens to sell in the winter 



locating the cause, and one of the causes given in the report 
is: "Imperfect sanitation; lack of ventilation, sunlight, 
etc., e. g., tuberculosis flourishes in dark, poor'y ventilated 
brooders; 15.1 per cent of the post-mortems showed more or 
less evidence of tuberculosis." A similar case was reported 
as afflicting several practical poultry farms last winter and 
so serious did the trouble become that an expert on poultry 
diseases was called in to carefully examine a lot of the dead 
chicks to see if he could locate the cause. He hadn't pro- 
ceeded far when he located tuberculosis as being the princi- 
pal cause; a thorough cleaning up and disinfecting of incu- 
bators and brooders was prescribe! and within a week the 
deaths practically ceased. 

"Prevention" is so very much better, simpler and easier 
than cure! How much of both pecuniary loss and trouble 
those poultrymen would have saved if they had simply 
cleaned up and disinfected the incubators and brooders be- 
fore commencing operations in the fall. Improper feeding 
and overcrowding f;re also prominent causes of the loss of 
baby chicks, but those are easily preventable causes; any 
one Insing chicks from those causes has only himself to 



THE CHICK BOOK 



9 



blame for it! And the disease germs also are easily prevent- 
able; cleanliness and disinfecting will down them and keep 
them down; hence any one who allows them to breed in his 
incubators and brooders and pounce upon his baby chicks 
has only himself to blame for it. 

Getting Good, Hatchable Eggs. 
Another difl'iculty to overco}ne in hatching fall and 
■winter chickens is getting good, hatchable eggs, but practi- 
cal market poultry raisers overcome this diffculty, as is 
proved by the fact that they hatch and raise fail and winter 
chickens. Eggs of all kinds are very scarce in the fall and 
early winter, and to get good, full-bodied eggs, eggs that 
will produce a fair proportion of strong, healthy chicks, is 
the problem If pullets have now begun to lay, their eggs 
are rather small in size, and, as a rule, if they are used 
for hatching the chicks one gets are likely to be small and 
weak. Eggs from mature hens are the beat, out they are 
mostly just recovering from the molt and lay few, if any, 
eggs. Hens can be induced to molt in summer and be 
wholly recovered from it and in f.ill lay asain by October 
if handled for that object, and if one has eggs from such 
hens of his own. or can get a supply from farmei neighbors, 
he is fortunate and can hatch winter chick.s. 

There is great difference in eggs, and marketmen speak 
of the best as being "full-bodied and strong;" others are 
classed as "weak and watery." It is only the best "full- 



bodied and strong" eggs that will hatch strong, vigorous 
chicks; it is well kuov/n that eggs whicli are weak and 
watery cannot produce strong chicks. The food and bodily 
condition of the fowls control the quality oi the eggs, hence 
the hatchability of the eggs is largely in the control of the 
manager of the fowls. The West Virginia Experiment Sta- 
tion has recently reported some tests of "mash feeding com- 
pared with whole grain, and heavy feeding compared with 
light feeding as affecting the number of eggs laid and their 
hatchability;" also, "beef scraps, ground fresh meat and 
bone, and milk albumen as affecting tho hatchability of 
eggs." The conclusion of the first scries of experiments 
says: "It is seen that the eggs from the fowls fed liberally 
hatched better than those from the fowls fed scantily;" 
also, "The results from these two tests should be construed 
as indicating that when the conditions are favorable for 
normal egg production, then the eggs will hatch liptter than 
when the conditions are unfavorable." It is Quite possible 
that the above tells us nothing new, but it is a restatement 
of an important truth which we need to have frequently 
put up to us. The liberal feeding is Important. Ii'it the 
good care, right sanitary condition?:, fre=h a)" and sufficient 
exercise for good health are 'jqually importanl factors for 
the production of good, hatchabl-; eggs, of eggs that are 
"full, strong bodied," well shelled, and ail right in every 
way. A. F. HUNTER. 



THE ENVIRONMENT FOR INCUBATORS. 



Fresh Air and Sunlight are as Essential for the Processes of Incubation as the Correct Degree of Neat. 



By H. 4, Nourse. 



THERE is no Questijn but we have good incubulors — 
machines that will do their part if the operator will 
provide proper environmeucs, .give them necessary 
care and furnish good eggs. The fact that any 
hatch at all is secured where the operators are careless of 
everything but the machine itself, is a telling recommenda- 
tion of the present day hatchers. 

Aside from the proper control of heat in the machine, 
nothing is of greater importance than b. favorable condition 
of the surrounding air. Oxygen is a necessary factor in 
success and must be provided. To shut an incubator in a 
small, dark room where to confine the heat every door and 
window is shut tightly, or to place it in a dark, musty cellar, 
where but little fresh air enters from autumn to spring, is 
to deprive yourself of its benefits. 

Sunlight is one of the best air purifiers and germ de- 
stroyers, but should not be allowed to shine through the 
glass doors of the machine. For this reason few cellars are 
fit for incubator rooms; yet. when one has ventilation suffi- 
cient to keep the air pure at all times and windows above 
ground through which the sunlight may shine, it is the very 
best location for a machine, because the temperature wiU be 
less variable than in a room or building that is wholly 
above ground. In the absence of these conditions an ordi- 
nary room in a dwelling, without heat, will be found best 
adapted to the requirements of those who do not need or 
cannot afford a building especially for this purpose. 

Ventilation may be secured and controlled by dropping 
the windows at the top and raising them at the bottom, pre- 



venting a draught in severe or rough weather by inserting 
cloth-covered frames in the open spaces. By having these 
frames in two or three sizes and one or more windows the 
situation may be thoroughly mastered. 

It is a fact that small buildings designed for the pur- 
pose do not, .as a rule, provide the favorable conditions de- 
scribed, therefore are not very satisfactory. Of those above 
ground few are well enough built to protect the machines in 
severe weather without closing every source of fresh air, 
in which case that confined in the building, usually of small 
contents, is soon impoverished by the lamps, which abstract 
the oxygen, leaving unhealthy gases in its place. Houses 
partly or wholly below ground to the eaves almost invari- 
ably lack sufficient ventilation, because it is more difficult 
to introduce fresh air. The best room of this kind is one hav- 
ing a building above to temper the heat in summer and the 
cold in winter; walls extending five feet below the ground, 
and two feet above; one-flfth of this exposed area of walls 
being of glass. Good ventilation necessitates a constant 
changing of the air by bringing in fresh air from without 
the building and removing the air which has become laden 
with impurities. To accomplish this, fresh air must be in- 
troduced near the ceiling of the room, preferably through a 
cloth diaphram. and the foul air drawn out from near the 
floor by means of tubes extending from within one foot 
thereof, up through the highest point in the roof of the 
building. In this manner the room may be freed from 
all gases without the aid of direct draughts and the chicks- 
will be strong and healthy, if other conditions are favorable. 

H. A. NOURSE. 



VENTILATION AND MOISTURE IN INCUBATORS, 



The Greatest Problem in Successful Artificial Incubation Is In Ventilation and Moisture — The Egg Contains a Proper 
Proportion of Elements to Build Up the Embryonic Structure — Death of the Embryo 
Follows Abuse of Nature's Laws, 



By H. E. Moss 



NK of the auomalies in the incubator business of to- 
day is the diversity of treatment to which eggs are 
'required to be subjected under the instructions 
of the makers of the various machines now on the 
market and Iheir ability to furnish pages of testimonials in 
support of their claims of the merits of their particular 
machine. There can be but one correct process or method 
of incubation, and that is nature's method. If we would 
duplicate nature we must conform to her method. I have 
before me thirty catalogues from as many different incuba- 
tor manufacturers. I have been examining these books and 
comparing the claims and theories of the different makers 




Two Incubator Houses In Use on an English Poultry Farm. 

so far as they pertain to the essential requirements of a suc- 
cessful hatcher. There is but one point upon which they 
all agree, and thar is the proper incubating temperature. 
The ease with which this fact can be determined accounts 
for this, but there are other conditions besides temperature 
upon which successful hatching depends, and in these they 
not only advance contrary theories, but in some instances 
proclaim them as self-evident truths. Turning and cooling 
the eggs are provided for In various ways, some even going 
so far as to furnish a cooling schedule for each day of the 
hatch, each one differing from the other. It is not with this 
question, however, that I propose to deal at this time, but 
the one embraced in ventilation and moisture. 

We are told very emphatically by some that at the end 
of a certain day the egg must show an air space to corre- 
spond with a given diagram, and at the end of certain other 
days it must show certain other fixed lines of air space, 
and that it the eggs are placed in warm water on a certain 
day and they float with an exposed surface equal to a silver 
■quarter in size, the evaporation is right. Now this may all 



be approximately correct and agree with normal conditions, 
but they go further and say that if they are found deficient 
the ventilation must be increased and if excessive it must be 
diminished and moisture introduced. 

This sounds very plausible to the unthinking or those 
who jump at conclusions. That all eggs lose a certain 
amount of moisture during incubation is very apparent, but 
the question is how do they lose it? From the rules they 
lay down for the purpose of increasing or diminishing the 
air space, we must assume their hypothesis to be that there 
is a certain amount of water created in the egg that does 
not belong there and that the Creator made the incubating 
body a party to the reproductive process, and did not create 
a perfect egg in a perfect condition to reproduce the species 
without the intervention of this outside agency to rear- 
range, as it were, its contents. 

The absurdity of such an hypothesis is apparent. 

Can we imagine for one moment that in His infinite 
wisdom He would establish any incomplete or imperfect 
thing, or law, as must be interred in this case, whereby 
some species are taught to deposit their eggs in suitable 
locations and never see them afterward, and that such eggs 
should not contain the proper proportions of all the ele- 
ments necessary to build up the embryonic structure? No, 
we cannot conceive of any such condition. We must assume 
that whatever is placed within the egg is necessary to the 
perfect development of its germ, and that if we wish to incu- 
bate it successfully we must not rob it of any one element 
or any part of one, and that It we do It suffers in conse- 
quence and in proportion to the degree of abuse to which we 
subject it. 

It has taken a number of years for incubator makers 
and operators to correct their ventilation. Carbon dioxide 
has been a bugbear. They find they need no longer tear 
this. They now unintentionally cease robbing the egg of Its 
moisture and realize the fact that under the new conditions 
the hatches approximate natural methods. The moisture 
pan is now a back number. The only benefit it ever worked 
was to partially equalize the aqueous tension between the 
inner and outer air, a condition which need not exist in a 
modern incubator. A current of cold air drawn in through 
the ventilating flues increases its capacity for moisture in 
proportion to the increase in its temperature. Its relative 
humidity being lower than the outer air, it gathers mois- 
ture from the eggs in sufficient quantity to restore the equi- 
librium. The allantois is robbed of its fluid and the mem- 
brane becomes dry, destroying its function as a respiratory 
organ, and death of the embryo follows. The greatest mor- 
tality from this cause occurs during the third week. 

The ventilating flues and forced drafts with which many 
machines of to-day are equipped are wrong in principle, al- 
though it is possible to operate fairly well with them, pro- 
vided the apertures are reduced to the minimum and em- 
ployed solely for the purpose of maintaining the air pure In 



THE CHICK BOOK 



11 



the egg chamber. Natural variations in the atmospheric 
humidity exert no influence, provided the aqueous tension 
is held the same within the egg chamber as without, and 
this is attainable in very few machines. 

From the hour the egg reaches the incubating tempera- 
ture there is a condition present within it which I have 
never seen noticed or described by any investigator. It is 
what might be termed a partial vacuum, a tension, or a ten- 
dency to shrinkage or contraction, which would naturally 
cause the absorption of oxygen to be more rapid than If 
it were compelled to depend upon diffusion only. This ten- 
sion is more apparent on about the fourteenth day than at 
any other period. It seems to be rythmic or Intermittent 
and is suggestive of the process of breathing as we perform 
it, except that its operation is so slight as to be impercep- 
tible except under certain conditions. 

Every atom of water contained in the egg is intended to 
pass through the circulation of the embryo in combination 
with the other elements, and is absolutely essential to the 
perfecting of the structure, and after having been so util- 
ized it is, as with any other elements that have beeen chem- 
ically transformed and served their purpose, thrown off 
as waste matter in the form of gases or urates. A weak 
germ, and by that I mean one that has not had a strong 
vitality, or life principle or impulse, implanted in it by the 
parent, or that has been reduced to this state by abuse, is 
retarded in its development. The impulse has either been 
checked or was weak to begin with. The normal diminution 
of the contents is checked or ceases entirely. The operator 
Is told that he is using too much moisture and not ventilat- 
ing enough, so out come the water pans and open go the 
slides, and at the same time an examination of all the eggs 
would perhaps show many at the normal stage. A strong 
current of air is now driven through the machine under the 
delusion that all that is necessary to make these weak 
germs hatch is by some means to extract the surplus mois- 



ture they seem to contain and increase the air space, and I 
have no doubt but some would be tempted to draw it out 
with a hypodermic syringe if it were contained in a pocket 
in the egg and they were not convinced by actual experience 
that a rupture of the membranes would be fatal. 

I would suggest to any who have doubts on this ques- 
tion to select a tray or a machine full of eggs showing small 
air spaces, say about the tenth to the fourteenth day, place 
them in a machine by themselves, take out all the water 
pans, open wide all ventilators, force all the air you can 
through the machine, and if you wish drive a warm blast 
through it by a fan motor, and see how many of them will 
come to exclusion. You can evaporate them fast enough 
and the faster, the quicker and surer the death. 

There are some things about incubation we can never 
know. The life principle or impulse is beyond the grasp of 
finite minds. Starting with germs that in every living thing 
are identical in structure and appearance, and developing 
them from one plane to another until they reach the limit 
to which their impulse carries them, they become men, birds 
or fish, and thus perpetuate their species, the fittest always 
surviving. We mortals may speculate and theorize upon It, 
but we cannot fathom iu 

Our hypothesis is that the Creator placed in the normal 
egg just what is needed there — no more, no less— and that 
if we can duplicate natural conditions we can successfully 
incubate them artificially, presuming that the parent bird 
in the incubating process contributes nothing but heat. It 
we can do this, and at the same time furnish oxygen suf- 
ficient to sustain the process we will succeed, but it must 
be just enough — no more, no less. The right amount to 
gauge the machines for, varies with the outer temperature, 
the stage of hatch and the machine used, as all vary In 
their power to induce currents — some are forced, others are 
natural. All these points must be taken into consideration. 

H. E. MOSS. 




4 Substantial, Practical Brooding House la Use at White Leghorn Poultry Yards, 



CARE or BROODER CHICKS, 



The Brooder Chick from Egg to Maturity — Ventilation, Moisture, Temperature and Floor Space Discussed by Breeders 

Who Know the Requirements of Brooder Chicks — Brooding Houses and Coops — Foods 

and Feeding— General Advice on Management, 



[This sj mposium is devoted to brooder chicks exclusively. To hatch chicks in an incubator is comparatively easy, and may be 
done bv a novice, but to raise the chicks after they .are removed to the brooder requires a knowledge which does not stop at a 
thorough understanding of brooder operation. The movements and appearance of the chicks inform an experienced observer what is 
necessary for their well-being. To cbtain the greatest .growth in the shortest time, chicks must be healthy, comfortable and always 
on the jump for food. Improper conditions result in death. It is from men who are competent to raise brooder chicks with the 
lowest possible mortalit>' that we have obtained the foll.iwing useful information for our readers. — Editor.] 



ADVANTAGES OF BROODER RAISED CHICKS- 
RATIONS AND CARE. 

, NE of the most necessary appliances connected with 
the poultry industry is an A No. 1 brooder, even 
though a hatcher is not in use. It is an easy mat- 
ter to find a number of sitting hens, and by placing in the 
brooder the chicks hatched by them, you avoid feeding the 
chick's food to the hens, and they will soon begin laying. 
The chicks -can be cared for and reared safely, no matter 
what weather prevails outside the brooder. They are free 
from vermin and if the brooder is kept clean they will not 
-be troubled with lice. There is no need of losing a chick if 
properly cared for. They will be much more tame and 
more easily handled than those reared by hens. 

F'or from fifty to seventy-five chicks a run of twenty feet 
is sufficient for one to two weeks, after which the chicks 
should be placed in a larger inclosure or allowed to run at 
large. I believe in plenty of range, as chicks confined to 
small inclosures very seldom develop well, but often do de- 
velop off colored feathers in plumage, which nature provides 
against it they have large range. The run may be made of 
boa.rds twelve inches high, a portion of which may be cov- 
ered with cheese-cloth. This will afford protection from 
winds and storms, also from sun. 

Chicks when first out of the shell can have no better 
food than bread for two or three days, then a mixture of 
'cornmeal and bran (half and half in bulk), to which add a 
small quantity of bone meal, about one part to eight of the 
mixture of meal and bran. Wet this with water and it 
makes an excellent food for morning and noon. At night 
good, clean wheat and cracked corn, with oat flakes or hulled 




oats is unsurpassed. Milk is very beneficial if placed where 
fowls or chicks can drink it. but should not be mixed with 
the food. 

A good brooder, an abundance of the right kind of food, 
coupled witli a (air amount of common sense, will bring 
goDd results. W. F. BRACE. 



A Croup ol Fast Crowing Chicks. 



LESSONS FROM NATURE— INTERESTING EXPERI- 
ENCES—LIMIT THE FOOD SUPPLY. 

While we have most of our chicks raised with hens on 
farms we still raise some in brooders. We allow the chicks 
to remain in the incubator from ten to twelve hours after 
they are all hatched; then we put them into a warmed 
brooder with the floor covered two inches thick with wheat 
bran. .A.fter they have been in the brooder two days we 
scatter a little millet seed in the bran, but not much for a 
wee'k. This season we have used a prepared chick food al- 
ternately with millet and have had success. When a few 
weeks old we feed cracked corn and whole wheat, in fact 
anything the chicks will eat, as great a variety as possible, 
and not too much at a time, keeping them in good appetite 
all the time, so they will take plenty of exercise. It is well 
lo have plenty of chaff or cut straw, hayseed or anything of 
that kind to scatter their grain food in to make them v.-ork, 
not forgetting grit and green food. 

Use only a brooder so constructed that the chicks can 
get any degree of heat they want, and one that allows the 
chicks to get away as far from the heat as they want to, and 
they will take care of themselves. 

One thing in raising brooder cliicks seems to us to be of 
more importance than anything else, and that is the feed- 
ing of the chick the first week of its existence. When a 
chick is hatched nature has supplied it with enough food 
so it can easily do without eating or drinking for a week or 
over. We will give one instance that will prove this with- 
out a doubt. 

A few years ago we had a hen that would fly through a 
ventilator and get above a board ceiling in one of our 
chicken houses; there she laid a lot of eggs and hatched a 
dozen chicks. Judging from the looks of the chicks when 
we first found them they were about ten days old. and dur- 
ing that time they had neither food nor water. A stronger 
lot of chicks I never saw and they were as wild as deer. 

In 1890 we took two hens with fifteen chicks each and 
put them into a cornfield a quarter of a mile from our build- 
ings and left them to hunt their living as best they could. 
The chicks had no water or food, except what the hen found 
for them. After they wei'e ten days old we went to see them 
and note results. We found the heris had not been ten yards 
from the place we put them, and such a sleek, healihy and 



THE CHICK BOOK 



VS. 



vigorous lot of chicks we never saw. Being satisfied with 
results so far, we ieft them another week, but when we went 
to see them we only found a few feathers from the hens, as 
a pack of dogs had put a stop to our experiments, but we 
learned this one fact, that very little, if any food should be 
given to newly hatched chicks for the first three or four days 
at least, and we believe there are more chicks killed by 
overfeeding in the first ten days of their lives than at any 
other time. This hardly ever affects the chicks until about 
the seventh day, when they get diarrhoea and stand around 
with full crops and soon die from indigestion, caused by 
strong food and feeding. We al! know what a hen that 
steals her nest does after her chicks are hatched. She does 
nothing the first few days but brood her chicks, then after 
they are three or four days old she will commence to scratch 
for them, but very little do they get for the first ten days. 
They secure a few small seeds at a time, and as they grow, 
and their digestive organs get strength they find more food, 
and most -jf the chicks live and grow to maturity; they de- 
velop very fast, too. Let us watch the old hen and learn 
lessons that will help us much in raising chicks with 
brooders. 

We think exercise is of great importance, and if one is 
so situated as to allow the chicks a good run it will be found 
very beneficial. If the room is limited use plenty of litter 
with dry food scattered through it. Avoid sloppy food. 
Remember dry food is nature's food and always remember, 
too, that little food is far better than too much. 

AUG. D. ARNOLD. 



ON BROODERS AND BREEDING. 

Four years of experience with artificial incubating and 
brooding has settled definitely in my mind the fact that 
with it we can raise "better poultry and more of it." I 
mean by this, that we cannot only raise a larger quantity, 
but a better quality. This is from the standpoint of a fan- 
cier as well as a marketman. 

In my hands brooder raised chicks are superior in 
growth and development, shape and plumage to those raised 
by hens. There are many reasons why this should be so, 
and these will be apparent to the unprejudiced poultrymen. 
My exhibition specimens have invariably been brooder 
raised. 

If I could have but one I would prefer a brooder to an 
incubator. I do not think an incubator superior to a hen 
for hatching, but I do think a brooder superior to her for 
raising chicks. To be successful the floor of the brooder 
should be built as near the ground as possilile, should be 
capable of generating sufficient heat, and should have a 
regulator that will maintain the correct temperature. I 
believe a regulator on a brooder in which you expect to 
place newly hatched chicks is as important as that on an 
incubator. The heat should come from above, with just 
sufficient bottom heat to keep the floor dry. The tempera- 
ture under the hover should be ninety degrees Fahrenheit 
for the first two weeks, with a gradual lowering from that 
on. Overheating is just as injurious and will cause bowel 
trouble just as quickly as will a chilly atmosphere. 

Let me caution readers against buying cheap brooders, 
for they prove very expensive in the end. Out of the many 
brooders made and advertised, there should be no trouble 
to select a good one. Buy the best or none at all. 

I have absolutely no use for an outdoor brooder, unless 
it is to be used indoors, and then I prefer an indoor brooder. 
Imagine shutting up fifty to two hundred chicks in a brood- 
er three by four feet for two whole days when the weather 
is stormy, and expecting them to do well. 

I have made small houses, six by eight feet, with a 
window and door in front. In a corner of this house 1 place 




A Vigorous Brood and Their Brooder, 

tho brooder, and after the chicks are three days old I give 
them the run of the house. On pleasant days the door to 
this house is left open and the chicks are given the run of 
the yard. In stormy weather they are kept in the house. 
On the floor of this house is four to six inches of chaff and 
into this the food is placed. At the end of eight or ten 
weeks the brooders are removed and roosts are put in their 
place. The young are left here until placed in winter 
quarters. 

For food for the first tour weeks I use bread soaked in 
milk, squeezed dry as possible, millet seed, cracked wheat, 
and cat groats. After the fourth week cut green bone is 
fed twice a week in place of bread and milk, and cracked 
corn alone for night food. Chick grit, granulated bone and 
dry bran is kept before them at all times. Be careful and do 
not overfeed. Small chicks will commence to scratch as 
soon as hungry, and they should be kept at it. 

It is needless to say attention to details is necessary to 
success. Clean the brooder frequently and keep the sur- 
roundings in a sanitary condition. 

Fresh, pure water should be kept before them. Get the 
chicks out on the ground as soon as possible, if but for a few 
minutes every day. 

With me the brooder chicks and their care are a source' 
of pleasure, and their attention means a friendship between 
us which is noticeable when they become adult fowls. 

DR. 0. P. BENNETT. 



THE TEMPERATURE OF THE BROODER IS OF FIRST 
IMPORTANCE. 

We have been raising chicks since 1893 and with the- 
exception of the first year we have raised nearly all of them 
in brooders. We have at times raised nearly every chick: 
put into them, and again, we have lost every solitary one, 
with many varied and interesting experiences between the 
two extremes, bui the method with which we have had the 
best success is that which we here describe. 

When the chicks are hatched we have the brooders all 
ready and warmed to a temperature of ninety degrees, which 
we consider nearly a perfect temperature (that is ninety 
degrees in the coolest part of the hover and not exceeding 
one hundred degrees in the warmest.) We place the chicks 
under the hover and for one week keep the temperature at, 
or as near ninety degrees as it is possible to keep it. The 
second week, if all has gone well, we reduce the temperature 
to eighty degrees, and after the second week and for as long 
as the chicks need the heat in a brooder we run it at seventy 
to eighty degrees, or at whatever temperature the chicks 
seem to be contented. We consider the heating part of this 
brooder business of more importance than the method of 



14 



THE CHICK COOK 



feeding, as too much or too little heat will wipe out a whole 
brooderful of chiciis before one is aware anything has gone 
wrong. Another thing — in the night when there is a change 
In the weather from one extreme to the other, cue will, 
many a time, save a bunch of chicks by going out and 
changing the lamp flame, either up or down, as may be 
necessary. No matter if you arc sleepy, if you wish to 
raise the greatest number of chicks, you must attend to this 
duty. 

As to feeding, we have wheat, oats and corn, equal parts 
of each ground together, and, with one-third its bulk in 
bran mixed with water to a stiff mass, a litMe soda added, 
and sometimes two or three eggs to a gallon of the food. 
This we put in a deep ___^_^^ 
pan and bake thor- "^ "^\ 
oughly for two hours in 
a good hot oven. We usf 
this food crumbled fine 
with a little more dry 
•bran added for the first 
four days and feed three 
times a day just what 
they will eat up clean. 
At noon, after the fifth 
day, we feed a little 
wheat, cracked corn and 
millet seed until they 
can eat cracked wheat, 
oata and corn, when we 
feed equal parts of 
wheat and oats, but 
only half as much corn. 
After the first week we 
add a small quantity of 
green cut bone every 
week day in the evening 
food. When they are 
five weeks old we feed 
whole grain morning 
and noon and soft food 
(not cooked) and green 
bone at night, until they 
are nearly matured, 
when we omit the noon 
feed entirely. 

We keep them in their 
regular brooders until 
they can do without the 
heat; then they are 
changed to a cold brood- 
er for a week or ten 
days, and from there to 

our open front roosting coops. They remain in these coops 
until they become troublesome to the smaller ones, when we 
put the first hatched lot in our large pens, separating the 
males and females. 

We give our young chicks unlimited range of an old 
orchard, except duriniiB'.:e first two weeks, when we use a 
small pen ten feet scjfetr© around each brooder for fifty 
chicks. We never put more than that number In one 
brooder. 

For our early chicks, for green food, we use a small 
amount of clover meal in their food. Young chicks should 
be placed on the ground just as early as possible after the 
second or third day. The little chicks in cool weather 
should be placed in a sunny spot and in extremely Lot 
weather in the shade. Close attention to details and all ef- 
forts to make the chicks comfortable are well repaid by 
faster, better growth. CLARK & TROLL. 




The heater which feeds the Pipe Systems In a New Jersey Brooding House. 



KEEP THE BROODEB CLEAN— WHAT TO FEED- 
HENS BRING LICE. 
Yes, I have had some experience raising chicks with 
brooders. As to the number of chicks to a brooder, I have 
yet to find one that would accommodate more than thirty or 
forty chicks for me. There is much danger of over-crowd- 
ing where more than forty are placed in the same brooder. 
Special care is needed to keep the chicks very clean, and 
the fresher and cleaner the surroundings of the chicks the 
less liable one is to lose them. 

In regard to feeding— I like pin-head oatmeal or rolled 
oats for the first four or five weeks, with a change to bread 
and milk or Spratt's patent chick food. An excellent change 

also and one that pro- 
duces growth Is flue 
cut green bone. As to 
the quantity, I give 
them what they will eat 
up clean. I would much 
rather keep them a little 
hungry than have them 
stuffed with food. 

I feed about five times 
a day the first week; 
after that four times a 
day till they are near- 
ly grown. Cracked corn, 
w h e a; t, buckwheat, 
ground oats and green 
cut bone is what I give 
them from six weeks 
old upwards. I keep 
plenty of grit before 
them, also plenty of 
fresh water in clean 
fountains or dishes. 

When weather per- 
mits I allow them to 
run at will, giving them 
practically free range. I 
have five acres devoted 
exclusively to White 
Wyandottes and raise 
about two hundred 
chicks on the home 
place. I farm out extra 
ones on different farms. 
I find that they do much 
better in small num- 
bers. It is not how 
many I try to raise, but 
how many good ones. 
I raise some by natural way, but have to be on the alert for 
fear of lice. But frequent use of lice killing powders and 
lice killing paints will keep them down and out. All my 
wesned cliickens are quartered in roosting coops where they 
get plenty of air and grow fast. 

C. S. WETMORE. 



FIVE DOLLARS AN HOUR EARNED BY RAISING 400 
BROODER CHICKS. 

I had a little experience a few years ago which I think 
will illustrate the possibilities of chicken growing on a lim- 
ited area and may interest and benefit some of your readers. 

During the latter part of March I got out a hatch of 
Light Brahma chicks, four hundred and one in number. I 
kept them in the brooder house for a few days, then, being 
short of room, put them outside in two outdoor brooders. 



THE CHICK BOOK 



15 



inclosing them in a little space of six square rods, inside a 
-wire fence one foot high. I think I have never suffered so 
«mall a mortality in all my experience with chicks, losing 
but three of the whole number and one of those killed by a 
dog. Those chicks commenced growing from the first and 
in three weeks' time began to hop over the wire. I hastily 
placed a four-foot wire around the pen, intending to move 
them to different quarters when convenient, but they made 
such a remarkable growth and seemed so healthy, I thought 
I would see how long they could be kept growing in that 
limited space. I attended them myself. The yard was 
swept every day with scrupulous care and the excrements 
removed. The birds were fed systematically and always 
kept a little hungry. They never left that yard till they 
went to market, then weighing from five to six pounds each, 
dressed, and there was not a cull in the lot. Their plumage 



In fact nothing came amiss; they greedily devoured every- 
thing I gave them and appeared to have every confidence In 
my judgment. They brought thirty cents per pound in Boa- 
ton market, aggregating nearly six hundred dollars, thus 
paying me for all food consumed and nearly five dollars an 
hour for all time In caring for them and had they been 
hatched two weeks earlier they would have brought thirty- 
five cents per pound. With one exception, this was my 
most successful experience with chickens. 

JAMES RANKIN. 



BAISING CHICKS IN BROODERS. 
We use both indoor piped sectional and outdoor hot-air 
brooders. To begin with, our chicks are well hatched and 
come out strong, plump and active. Very early in the sea- 
son, when the weather is still cold and frosty and no grass 




view Showing the Location of Hovers end Other Interior Fixtures In a New Jersey Brooding House. 



■was glossy and fine. The birds were gentle and could bo 
taken up at will. 

When a little over four months old and about ready for 
market, I notified Mr. Hunter, then of Farm Poultry, that 
I had a show for him. He came out the next day and when 
he saw those chicks he would not believe that they had been 
grown in that yard, as there appeared to be but little more 
than standing room for them. He asked my men If I was 
not hoaxing with him, and he finally acknowledged that 
they were the finest lot of chicks he ever saw together. 

They were fed four times per day till a month old, after 
that three times. They were started in with bread crumbs 
and hard boiled eggs chopped fine. One part egg to five 
parts crumbs and plenty of grit mixed in. After three days 
their food was equal quantities of wheat bran and cornmeal 
with a little fine beef scraps, and I gave them one feed each 
day of rolled oats and cracked corn. As they grew older 
they had a bucket of clotted milk each day, boiled potatoes 
and green grass. Toward the last, one feed of whole com 
and over one-half busbel of finely cut corn fodder per day. 



growing, we use the indoor brooders. These machines are 
set up, thoroughly warmed and tested before the chicks are 
put in. The brooder floors are sanded and the house floor 
covered with chaff or cut straw. During the first few weeks 
we keep the hovers very warm and if the chicks are too 
warm they crawl out where it Is cooler. At night in par- 
ticular we are careful to have a good surplus of heat, so 
that the chicks lie partly outside the hovers, as from mid- 
night to morning the temperature of the room will lower 
considerably, so the chicks will go under the hover and be 
very comfortable. Were it not for this surplus of heat 
when left at night the chicks might be chilled before morn- 
ing and then bowel trouble would make its appearance and 
many chicks die. Each room is sixteen by twenty feet and 
not usually over four hundred chicks to each brooder. 

The first few days the chicks are fed granulated oat- 
m.eal only, with clean water (not too cold) for drink, and 
some good, sharp grit before them constantly. The first 
week we feed four times daily and but little at a meal. Wo 
then begin gradually working them on to a diet of cake. 



Hi 



THE CHICK BOOK 



varied with tracl<ed wheat. The calie is made of ground 
oats (hulls sifted out), cornmeal and best coarse wheat bran, 
about equal parts by bulk, with a very little high grade beef 
scraps mixed in wliile dry. The mixture is then moistened 
with some milk or buttermilk, salted as for the table, leav- 
ened with soda, and baked. 

The baking tins should not be quite full, as when the 
bread is done we turn it upside down on a board so the crust 
will be softened by the steam. As the chicks grow older 
the amount of beef scraps is gradually increased. This 
feeding goes on until the chicks are five to six weeks old. 
when a warm mash of about the same material as the cake 
is fed once a day. and whole wheat and cracked corn twice. 
This mash is moistened with warm water -.vith a little salt 
dissolved. 

Just as soon as we can get fresh clover or grass it is fed 
daily, cut in one-eighth-inch lengths. Chard, lettuce, beet 
tops or any such gieen stuff is also good. The hard grains 
are fed in the litter to induce exercise after the chicks are 
older and strong enough to work it out. 

When the chicks are ten days to two weeks old and the 
weather is suitable they are let out in yards about fifty by 
two hundred feet in size, care being taken that they can 
find their way to the house when stormy. When they are 
about eight weeks old the yards are opened and the birds 
given free range. 

When the chicks show a disposition to roost on top in- 
stead of inside the brooder, roosts are placed back of the 
brooder and the chicks encouraged to occupy them, when in 
a short time the brooder can be removed. 

Just as soon as grass starts in spring, we begin putting 
chicks in the outdoor brooders, and when they are four to 
six days old we let them out on the ground in small yards 
in front of the brooder. As soon as they get familiar with 
going in and out and learn to go inside when the weather 
is stormy we give larger yards, running entirely around the 
brooder, and finally when the chicks are three or four weeks 
old we allow them free range. These chicks are fed same 
as in the indoor brooders, except that cut grass is omitted, 
as they help themselves to the fresh, growing article, and 
the exercise they get in pulling it off and running around 
the yards is a wonderful aid to growth. 

In my opinion an outdoor brooder should have a light, 
cool chamber attached, where the chicks can feed and exer- 
cis'3 when very young, or when the weather is bad, and into 
which they can retreat in ease the brooder chamber should 
become overheated. Outdoor brooders have some advan- 
tages over those indoor, but they require more watchful 
care. Their greate.st point of superiority is that the chicks 
can be got out on the ground at a much earlier age, and in 
running about their yard, picking the fresh grass, etc., get 
much healthful exercise. When the weather gets very hot 
the outdoor brooder should be placed in the shade, and a 
shady run provided for the chicks when very young, as the 
intense heat of the sun kills a great many. When running 
at large the chicks will seek shade of their own accord. 

We like both kinds of brooders, use both, and would not 
wish to be deprived of either. H. J. BLANCHARD. 



THE BROODER CHICK FROM EGG TO MATURITY. 

Early in our experience of artificial brooding we became 
convinced of the fact that the foundation of successful 
brooding was laid months before the chick was hatched. By 
thi.s we mean that unless the breeding stock is in the best 
of physical health we cannot hope for the best results in 
raising our young stock. Too many of the reasons assigned 
for the large mortality among chicks are, to say the least, 
of very uncertain signification, and not enough attention 
is paid to the poor condition of the breeding stock, which 



is, to our way of thinking, the main reason why a larger 
percentage of chicks do not reach maturity. 

Our first attempt at brooding chickens artificially re- 
sulted in disastrous failure, but by close observation and 
many costly experiments, we finally adopted a method 
which is giving us gratifying results, and we feel sure that 
tho?p who will try it will be pleased with it. 

It goes without saying that the eggs must be well incu- 
bated, and every attention given them while under process 
of incubation. We leave the chicks in the incubator forty- 
eight hours after they come out of the shell. The morning 
of the third day we take them out of the incubator and carry 
them to the brooders, which have been previously warmed 
for their reception. We then give them their first feed, 
which consists of whole wheat bread, moistened with milk. 
We never place more than fifty chicks in each brooder, 
sometimes only forty. The temperature of the brooders is 
regulated by the disposition of the chicks on the brooder 
floor; if well spread out, we know they have sufficient heat, 
if all crowded in a corner we know they need more heat. 
That is our thermometer, and a reliable one. 

We wish here to relate an experiment we made in order 
to determine the length of time chicks can be left in ihe in- 
cubator without food. Five chicks were left in the machine, 
the ventilators wide open, and the heat regulated to 100 de- 
grees. At first it was our intention to leave them in until 
they showed signs of weakness, but on the fourth day our 
courage weakened, and we fed them. They had up to this 
time showed no other signs but that of being very hungry, 
running to the glass front of the machine upon hearing the 
least noise. We marked these chicks and let them run with 
the rest. At maturity two of the cockerels weighed eight 
and three-quarter pounds each; three of the pullets six 
pounds, six and one-quarter pounds, and six and one-half 
pounds respectively. All of them lived to maturity and 
were always bright. Since then we always left our chicks 
forty-eight hours without food and believe this to be the 
very best way to start chickens growing. 

Our brooders ".re placed inside of a house eight by ten 
feet, with yards eight by twenty-five feet, each brooder oc- 
cupying a separate house. The floor of the brooder is car- 
peted with cut clover, but the brooder house is filled in to 
above the sills with clean, sharp sand. The chicks are left 
in the brooder for two days, tiien let out into the house for 
three or four days, then the slide door to the yard is left 
opjn and they are given the run of their yards. When the 
chicks are six weeks old we take away the fence to the yards 
and give them thn free run of the farm. 

For the first ten days of their lives our chicks are fed 
only whole wheat bread moistened in milk every four hours. 
Water (warmed in cold weather) is always before them from 
the start, and is renewed twice or four times a day accord- 
ing to the weather. When the chicks are ten days old we 
still continue the vvfheat bread morning and night, the other 
two feeds are made up of the following mixed giains: 
Cracked wheat, 50 pounds; coarse oatmeal, 25 pounds; 
cracked corn, 10 pounds; millet seed, 5 pounds; fine meat 
scraps, 10 pounds. When fine meat scraps are not procur- 
able, boil some liver, chop it up into fine pieces, and use 
that instead. Some heresy hunters will prick up their ears 
upon reading this and criticise us for giving meat to our 
young chicks, especially when given free range, but we 
know that it is impossilile to grow the finest chicks without 
the free use of meat, but it must be used with judgment 
and be of good quality. 

At six weeks old we make the mixture of whole grains 
instead of cracked, still feeding it twice a day, but at this 
age the bread is replaced by a mash fed morning and night, 
composed as follows: Wheat, 50 pounds; shelled oats, 25 



THE CHICK BOOK 



17 



pounds; pearled bailey, 15 pounds; corn, 10 pounds. We buy 
the grains whole and have them ground up together into 
a meal. To every 100 pounds of this meal we add 10 pounds 
of the finest quality meat scraps. We continue to feed our 
chicks four times a day until three months old, then we drop 
one meal, and feed only three times a day, mixed grains in 
the morning and noon, and mash at night. We aim to feed 
all they will eat at each meal, without overfeeding. Now 
and again when they do not appear hungry we drop a meal, 
and they are benefited by it. 

At three months old we separate the sexes, giving the 
cockerels one part of the farm, the pullets the other. 

We have said nothing about charcoal, dry bran, tonics 
and condition powders, simply because they are unneces- 
sary. Grit of course we use and find we cannot get along 
without it. 

While we are painfully aware that our method is not 
perfect, we cannot overlook the fact that by following it as 
hero described, we have succeeded in bringing to maturity 
over ninety per cent of all chicks put in the brooders. Our 
chicks grow steadily from the shell up, our pullets begin 
laying at six months old always. They have produced two 
hundred eggs in one year. A good deal of this large egg 
yield was due to the care given the pullets while growing 
and after they began to lay, but had they not been bred 
frorj layers we could not have reached these results. If only 
those who decry the practice of breeding layers by the indi- 
vidual record system would try it, they would soon become 
converts to it. However, the proof of the pudding is the 
eating of it; give our way a trial before you condemn it, 
you will be pleased with the results. C. BRICAULT. 



FOOD AND CARE GIVEN FLOCKS OF BROODER 
CHICKS. 

As our present plan of feeding is giving sucli good re- 
sults we will here give you a description of the care and iood 
given our chicks. We leave the chicks in the machines until 
the morning of the twenty-second day, taking out the trays 
the night of the twenty-first day, thus giving the chicks 
more room and light. 

The morning of the twenty-third day the chicks are 
taken out and put into outdoor brooders and given a break- 
fast of dry rolled oats, which we feed for a week or ten days. 
A little chopped lettuce is much relished by the chicks also. 
From rolled oats we go to a mixed food consisting of a pre- 
pared poultry food with a little more rolled oats and meat 
meal added to it. This we mix up with curdled milk until 
it will crumble in the hand. This we feed until it is time 
for whole grain and cracked corn, and we find it is giving 
grand results. We neglected to slate at the beginning that 
first and foremost the chicks are given plenty of fresh water 
as well as good food, all of which make chicks grow and 
keep them growing. Charcoal and fine grit are also among 
the necessities of proper feeding. 

Great care should be taken to keep the brooders cleaned 
at least once a week, and aired every day. 

Our predecessor always used indoor brooders, but he 
always had a great deal of trouble in keeping the chicks 
warm early in the season and cool as the season advanced, 
and the result was the loss of chicks. There is one point 
in favor of indoor brooders, and that is in rainy weather 
the chicks have more room, but with the style of brooders 
we have now in use we have had no trouble on this score, 
as we only put seventy-five into each brooder, which is but 
half their capacity, thus giving the chicks plenty of room 
for different kinds of weather. 

Attached to each brooder is a small wire run, where the 
chicks are let out for a week or ten days, until they get used 
to going in and out of the brooder, then the fence is removed 



and the chicks have free range every pleasant day until 
they are separated and put in the brooder house and taught 
to go onto the roost. 

We think we have the best plan for young chick roosts 
we have seen. We use four saw-horses placed at even dis- 
tances apart. On these we have eleven roosts, four inches 
wide by twenty feet long, placed about two inches apart. 
Those are fastened to the end horses by boring holes 
through the slats and horses and putting spikes through 
both, thus holding them all in position. We find them easy 
to build, easy to clean and easy to take down and store. 
These eleven roosts will accommodate from three to four 
hundred half-grown chicks. Our brooder house is situated 
in a large pear orchard covering about eight acres; the soil 
is gravel and sand and is seeded to clover. We also have 
two living springs, so our stock get plenty of good pure 
water, lots of shade, ample range, with plenty of insects 
to keep them busy between meals. GRAY & STORKE. 



BROODER CHICKS AND GROWING STOCK— CARE 
AND FOOD. 

It is a delightfully easy thing to tell how to raise chick- 
ens. It is not quite so easy to successfully raise them. 
There is little need for any extended directions for raising 
chickens by the natural method other than in the points of 
food and cleanliness, with some little attention to the de- 
tails of housing and shade. With artificial hatching the 
business takes on a development and calls for much greater 
care and decidedly more attention to food and management. 

Little need be said of the hatching, except that the best 
incubators should be used; the second rate cheaper machines 
being generally unworthy of confidence; that is, the prob- 
lem of hatching is of sufficient importance that only the 
very best means to this end should be accepted. 

In producing eggs for hatching the very best attention 
must be given to the breeding stock, and if good results are 
to be had the birds must be the product of several genera- 
tions of hardy, vigorous stock. 

The strongest emphasis may be placed upon the fact 
that it is much easier to hatch chickens than it is to raise 
them after they are hatched, and the first two weeks In the 
little bird's life is a crucial period, and under some condi- 
tions the second two weeks is harder to tide over than the 
first fortnight, yet with due care and proper attention to 
the warmth and food they may be and are successfully car- 
ried to an age after which death is generally the result of 
accident rather than ailment or disease. 

What they shall be fed when taken from the machine 
at the expiration of twenty-four or thirty-six hours is a 
question which has exercised the mind of every producer 
of chickens. Every conceivable sort of food has been sug- 
gested, recommended and tried in more or less cases. We 
believe that the simpler the ration the better the chicken 
and the surer the success in its raising. All fancy mixtures 
and fussy feeding notions may safely be eliminated. The 
oldtime mixture of boiled eggs and cracker crumbs is now- 
a-days pretty generally neglected. In some instances breed- 
ers are using this mixture successfully, but in more cases 
they are killing their chickens apparently by its use. We 
have tried practically every system from the egg and crumb 
diet to that of dry food alone, including baked cakes, bread 
crumbs and various oat foods and so on, et cetera, et cetera, 
and have gradually simmered down to the point where we 
now feed exclusively for the first two days a mixture of two- 
thirds wheat bran and one-third Indian meal moistened 
with milk, and to this we add about five per cent of fine 
gravel or grit. The chickens are fed all they can eat, in 
fact it is before them practically all the time for the first 
forty-eight hours, and from then until a week or two of age 



18 



THE CHICK BOOK 



there is very little of the time when food is not within 
reach. After the first two or three days they are fed in ad- 
dition finely sifted cracked corn and rolled oats, chopped 
oats, cracked wheat or, in fact, any grain or food which 
they will eat. We conclude it makes very little difference 
so long as they have a fair proportion of animal food, 
which, with us, is in the form of ground beef scraps, and it 
may be just as well or better in the form of milk, either 
sweet or sour, skimmed or whole. When milk is fed to very 
small chickens it is better to moisten their food with it than 
that they have it to drink. If they have it as a drink they 
are quite apt to smear themselves with it, making them 
sticky and dirty, and both Ill-feeling and ill-looking. After 
the first three or four days the grit is left out of the food, 
a supply being kept constantly within reach, which they 
eat as they require it. The warmth in the hover is started 
at ninety-five degrees, with the chickens all in. From that 
it is gradually lowered, more attention being paid to the 
action of the chicken than to the temperature as registered 
by the mercury. When the chickens are comfortable and 
settle down contentedly without over-crowding or pushing 
too much to the outside, it is concluded that the conditions 
are right and they are doing well. When, on the other 
hand, they crowd and cry, not enough heat is supplied, and 
we give them more. It is impossible to give small chick- 
ens a satisfactory treatment where the brooders are run 
altogether by the thermometer, regardless of the outside 
weather conditions, and the indications of comfort, which 
may be observed from the chickens themselves. The brood- 
er floors and pens should be scattered with chaff or covered 
with sand to induce action and exercise through scratching 
and working for particles of dry food, which may be thrown 
about in the litter. The one thing essential to the health 
of the chicken is abundant exercise. Without this they will 
not thrive, and success cannot be attained. In order to get 
the necessary exercise it is imperative that they have an 
abundant supply of fresh air and an outdoor run at all sea- 
sons of the year. A few minutes in the open air will do th« 
smallest chicken good, and after they are a week or ten 
days old they may be trusted to run back and forth in pleas- 
ant weather almost regardless of how cold the outside tem- 
perature may be. Fussy coddling and over-heated compart- 
ments have been responsible for the death of more chickens 



i0^^ 



V' '-''■'■ 



INI4 



An Even half Dozen— Just Out. 



An Ideal Place for Urooder Chicks on the Hlont of Mrs. h. W. Hand. 



than any other cause. Whenever trouble appears in a flock 
of chickens the first question with the average beginner, 
and sometimes with the more experienced person, is what 
their food has been. The attention and investigation is 
generally directed toward the food. The facts are that the 



strong, healthy chickens having abundant exercise and a 
good supply of fresh air will stand almost any sort of food 
without taking harm. The main thing is to get the exer- 
cise. It perhaps might be noted here that this is practically 
the secret of success in managing breeding stock as well as 
chickens. 

Clean water should be always within reach of the chick- 
ens, and it should be kept in some such fountain as will 
make it im- 
possible for 
the little 
birds to get 
into it. This 
will save 
f r e quent 
drenchi n g 
and ocea- 
s i o u a 1 
deaths b y 
drown i n g. 

In extremely cold weather it is better that newly 
hatched chickens should have luke-warm water than that 
it should be given to them icy cold. Many breeders do not 
give the little chickens any water until several days old, 
some even keeping them several weeks without it. We have 
not thought it the best way, and we give water from the 
first. From their very evident pleasure in drinking, it must 
taste good to them, and we doubt any possibility of harm 
from drinking over much clean, pure water. 

There is a good deal of question what the limit is in 
the numbers that may be kept together safely. Many advo- 
cate fifty as the best limit, while others keep from one hun- 
dred to two hundred in the same pens and under the same 
hovers. There is little doubt that for the beginner, at least, 
flocks of fifty or sixty will do better, and there will be a 
lower death rate than in flocks of one hundred and upward. 
We have built our brooder building with the pens three by 
ten feet, which are designed to accommodate from fifty to 
seventy-five small chickens. They will easily hold fifty 
chickens until six weeks of age if the chickens have an out- 
door run. They are then put in a pen four by ten feet and 
kept until feathered out, when they are removed to colony 
houses of one description or another. Of course the early 
hatched and winter chickens must have 
heat practically throughout the winter. 
Late birds do very well without arti- 
ficial heat after the last of March, and 
may be safely colonized in suitable 
coops at a few weeks of age — almost 
every kind of coop is used for this 
purpose, and it really matters very lit- 
tle what the style of the structure be 
so long as it conserves the essential 
features, which are dryness and free- 
dom from direct draught. For some 
years open front and bottomless roost- 
ing coops have been strongly advo- 
cated as being the best fitted for grow- 
ing chickens colonized in groups of 
from thirty to fifty. Our experience 
has led us to do away altogether with 
open fronts and coops without bot- 
toms. There is a constant trouble from 
colds caused either by driving rains or 
bunching up on the ground, thus drawing up the dampness, 
which ends in running nostrils, wheezing and general de- 
bility. 

As the chickens grow older they are fed rather differ- 
ently. They have their regular morning feed, with one at 






^.^^..^--^ 



THE CHICK BOOK 



1^ 



lir 



noon and another at night. Generally the morning and the 
night feed are mashes composed of bran and meal of about 
€qual parts, with from ten per cent to fifteen per cent of 
beef scraps added. Oyster shell and grit are always by 
them, and green food is supplied as abundantly as is conven- 
ient. Where the runs are large enough so that the green 
food is not eaten down, no other need be 
given, but in yards devoid of grass some sub- 
stitute will have to be added to the grain ra- 
tions. In addition to these regular feeds 
three times a day many of the most prac- 
tical and successful poultrymen keep a box 
of cracked corn open to them, from which 
they may eat at pleasure. Many also keep 
a box of coarsely ground scrap, which is kept 
constantly filled and which may be had at all 
times. 

As the chickens gain in size and the 
■cockerels mature they are separated from 
the pullets, leaving from twenty-five to 
thirty-five or forty pullets in a flock. The 
cockerels are removed to another yard and, 
if designed for market birds, are fed all the 
fattening food which they will take, and as 
fast as they are in fit condition they are sent to market. 
The earlier hatched pullets should not be fed quite so much 
meat or animal food as the later hatched ones, or they will 
begin laying too early and will molt out in the fall, thus 
jeopardizing the supply of winter eggs. It is possible by 
forced feeding of animal food to induce very early laying, 
and we this season, without extra heavy strain, have started 
our Wyandotte pullets to laying at four and one-half 
months, which is too early to get the best size on the birds 
or the best results in constant egg production. Too early 
maturity is as much to be avoided as too late, that is, the 
pullet which grows along freely and gets a suitable frame 
and size before beginning to lay will make the strongest 
and most vigorous breeding bird and will in the end prove 
the most profitable. 

We feed very little whole corn, as the cracked corn gives 
them more exercise in scratching and feeding, and does not 
pack so closely together in the crop. Considerable shelled 
and whole oats are fed, together with some wheat; the 
wheat, however, is more sparingly fed on account of the 
«xtra cost. We are able to get the same growing value 
from wheat bran and beef scrap at a much less cost 



very little difference and that the chicken thait is properly 
fed and is in the right condition will be good to kill for 
broilers without any extra preparation, and chickens which 
are good broilers will, if kept, mature into good roasters. 
One of the really necessary things to do is to get rid of 
about nine-tenths of all the accumulated wisdom which has 






Making a Good Start. 

than we can get it from wheat, of which the best grades 
only should be fed. Smoked and damaged grains, such as 
are commonly on sale for poultry, are unfit for this piirpose. 
Very many fancy formulas are to be had for broiler 
feeding as distinct from roasters. We believe there is really 



A Flock of Future Money Makers, 

been loaded on to the chicken business, in many cases until 
it has nearly swamped it, and to get back to a few very 
plain principles. These briefly stated would be, sufficient 
warmth, cleanliness, plain food, and plenty of it; these, to- 
gether with a good range, will produce chickens at a satis- 
factory profit, if the breeding stock has been properly se- 
lected and bred. 

One of the very necessary points is good shade, and it 
must be had in some way, either by trees, boards or brush 
sheds or otherwise. We have killed two birds with one 
stone, or rather saved several birds with one idea by build- 
ing a number of houses on posts, which leaves them ele- 
vated about twelve inches or fifteen inches from the ground. 
These coops are floored, which keeps the birds high and 
dry and free from dampness, and at the same time allows 
them sufficient shelter from the sun and the draught 
which is generally found nearest the ground, and 
on rainy days they bunch together under the buildings and 
enjoy themselves much better than they would were they 
obliged to stay inside. A board runway leads from the 
chicken door to the ground, giving them convenient pas- 
sage to and from the inside. Since we have adopted this 
method of keeping the chickens we have 
had very much less trouble from colds and 
greater thrift than by the former method of 
colonizing in open front coops without floors. 
These coops are built four by eight feet and 
are four and one-half feet high in front and 
three feet at back, giving a sharp pitch to 
the roof, which sheds the water readily. 
They are covered with tarred paper and have 
one sash, six lights, nine by twelve inches, 
and a door twenty-four inches wide, and full 
height of the building, which is fitted with 
a screen for hot weather. The birds may be 
carried in this building through the winter 
if necessary, and before the chickens are 
large enough in the spring to be placed in 
them they are used for breeding pens 
and are very convenient for this pur- 
buildings are, as are all other quarters, 
inhabited by chickens, thoroughly disinfected at frequent 
intervals, with a solution of carbolic acid and water. Care 
must be exercised that too much carbolic acid is not used 
immediately before the chickens are shut in for any length 



pose. These 



20 



THE CHICK BOOK 



of time as too much acid is quite fatal to small chickens. 
Any high grade disinfectant would answer the same pur- 
pose, the idea being to keep the house free from disease 
germs and to help the sanitary conditions. 

G. H. POLLARD. 



BBOODEB CHICKS— FEED AND CARE. 

I want to tell you of my mode of feeding and caring for 
chicks. After the chicks are hatched I leave them in the 
machine at least twenty-four hours before placing them in 
the brooder. This makes them strong and vigorous. As 
soon as they are placed in the brooder I give them sand or 
fine grit and water. I keep water by them all the time, good 
clean, fresh water. 

My first feed is hard boiled eggs chopped up fine. After 
that I feed millet scattered among the chaff that is on the 
bottom of the brooder and run. I feed both millet and hard 
boiled eggs at intervals (just what they will clean up and 
work for) for the first week, after that I give them a feed of 
cooked rice (cooked dry) for a change, also cut oats and 
corn bread. As the chicks grow older I add whole wheat 
and also feed some mash with a little blood meal in it about 
twice a week. One of the great points in feeding and care 
of chicks is "common sense and judgment," Study your 
brood and you can see at a glance how much and what to 
feed to supply their wants. 

I remember one season I tried not feeding any food or 
water for the first forty-eight hours, etc. Weil, the result 
was I lost all the chicks. As brooders (the leading machines) 
are nearly .all properly constructed it remains for the oper- 
ator to do his or her part, which if done there will be no 
trouble. I rear and have raised by farmers from 1,000 to 
2,000 White Plymouth Rocks every year, and must say if the 
farmers follow tho above method of care and feed we lose 
but few chirks. U. R. FISHEL. 



THE VALUE OF EXERCISE, LIMITED FOOD AND 
EVEN TEMPERATURE. 

Our experience with brooders has been somewhat varied 
and not all "clear sailing" by any means. We had seme 
very disheartening times while we were getting our "ex- 
perience." 

The poultry journals are full of advice regarding the 
operating of brooders. These methods sometimes seem di- 
rectly opposed, and still, no doubt, they are the truthful ex- 
perience of the writers. We believe that the greater num- 
ber of failures with brooder chicks are caused by too much 
heat and overfeeding. We do not believe that brooders can 
be run successfully, generally, in cold weather without the 
use of thermometers. Chicks taken directly from the incu- 
bators and placed in the brooders will stand a far greater 
amount of heat than is good for them. Consequently if we 
judge altogether by their actions we may keep them at a 
much higher temperature than is good for them. This is 
reasonable, for we can so accustom a child to a high tem- 
perature that it will be uncomfortable in a room under nine- 
ty degrees, and none will deny that this amount of heat is 
injurious to the child. Ninety degrees three inches from 
the floor in the hover of the brooder is about right for the 
first week. This should be reduced gradually to eighty-five 
degrees the second week and to eighty by the end of the 
third week. 

We have killed a whole lot of chicks, both in brooders 
and with hens, with kindness, i. e., with too much food. 
Now, we never feed oftener than three times a day from the 



very start, either with brooders or hens. This way works 
well with us and we shall stick to it. The danger of over- 
feeding with brooder chicks is especially great, as they do 
not and cannot take as much exercise as those with hens. 
Don't worry if they get hungry enough between meals to 
scratch good and hard. This is the making of them. It will 
help digest their food and ward off diarrhoea, which is only 
the result of indigestion. 

All brooders should have an open runway or yard, and 
the chicks should be accustomed to running in this for at 
least a short time from the very start. Give fresh water to 
drink from the first. Keep fine grit in the brooders all the 
time. Keep the temperature right; have them take plenty 
of exercise; feed only three times a day, and "what you 
feed" will not be so important. 

We are very partial to millet seed. In fact we have said 
that we could raise chicks on this alone, with water and 
grit. Equal parts of corn meal, bran, shorts and clover meal, 
baked with soda or baking powder, makes a good winter 
feed. Stale bread, soaked soft and squeezed dry, is an ex- 
cellent food for starting chicks. Put chaff In the yards or 
runs and sprinkle just a little millet seed in it and watch 
them scratch for it. This is our way, no theory, all practice. 
If your way is different, and you are successful, stick to it. 

W. B. GIBSON & SON. 



FEEDING THE BROODER CHICKS. 

1 have used several kinds of brooders. I first began with 
outdoor brooders with bottom heat, but had little success, 
but that was about twelve years ago, before brooders were 
as well perfected as at the present time. For a while after 
that I hatched with incubators and brooded with hens and 
since have used top heat indoor brooders with success. 

The brooder with which I have had the greatest success 
is one having a hot water pipe system, and with this I can 
raise a larger per cent of the chicks hatched than with hens, 
and the same number with much less trouble and expense. 

I feed chicks after they are about thirty-six hours old, 
once every two hours through the day till about four weeks 
old. No one need fear that any food is too fattening for 
young chicks. They need carbonaceous or fattening food to 
keep them warm while they are small and to sustain their 
vigor during the period of rapid growth. There is no one 
food which is as good as cornmeal, either in mush or bread, 
but I think a variety of foods is better than any one alone. 
A very excellent food for chickens is bread made from two 
part? corn meal and one part wheat middlings, with two 
tablespoonfuls of animal meal added to each quart of the 
mixture; this stirred to a stiff batter with sour milk, in 
which enough soda has been dissolved to make it light, and 
baked in thin cakes to be fed warm or cold. This bread may 
form the main food till the chicks are large enough to eat 
cracked corn, broken rice and small grain and the bread 
may be supplemented by hard boiled eggs chopped fine, and 
other palatable foods. I save the infertile eggs from the 
incubators to boil for the chicks. After they can eat small 
grain foods I feed a mash once daily of the same meal mix- 
ture as described for bread, and a variety of grain foods, 
such as steamed rolled oats, wheat and creacked corn, plenty 
of oyster shells and grit, and clean fresh water, give access 
to a good grassy run, and a clean brooder. In short, to get 
the best results, chicks should be kept steadily growing from 
the time they leave the shell till they are fully matured. 
As they grow older they require proportionately more of the 
bone and muscle forming food and less of the more fatten- 
ing materials. 

The best way to care for the brooder is to clean it every 



THE CHICK BOOK 



21 



morning and put clean sand on the floor to absorb moisture 
and to ease the chickens' tender feet from the hard floor. 

GEORGE H. NORTHUP. 



CARE OF BROODER CHICKS— COLONY COOPS AND 
NEW GROUND. 

After many years with Buff Cochins we have almost 
adopted and believe the saying that, "If you hatch ten 
Cochin chicks and a board does not fall on them, you are 
almost sure to raise the whole ten." A good brooder, proper 
food, pure water, plenty of shade and green grass, freedom 
from lice, and the proper attention, will make Cochin rais- 
ing the simplest thing in the world. 

Our chicks are hatched both by hens and incubators, 
and we find absolutely no difference in the chicks, with the 
exception that those hatched by incubators are free from 
lice. 

It is almost impossible to raise to maturity chicks from 
unhealthy and improperly cared for parents. It is equally 
impossible to raise chicks that have been improperly incu- 
bated, whether by hens or incubators. 

It is just as probable that you will get improperly incu- 
bated chicks from hens as from incubators; for how often 
do you see a poor, run-down, emaciated hen bring into ex- 
istence a flock of chicks when she is so weak, poor, and run- 
down that she is barely able to stand. This is not the fault 
of the hen, but of the failure of the proper attention having 
been given her. One can readily understand how impossible 
It would be to start and develop into active and vigorous 
life chicks that have been brought into the world under such 
unfavorable circumstances. Therefore, our first aim is to 
get our chicks from healthy, well cared for parents, and then 
to have them hatched under the most favorable conditions. 
When the chicks are hatched we leave them under the 
hen or in the Incubator at least twenty-four hours. If they 
are taken out sooner than this, they are not so strong, and 
the chance of raising them is much lessened. They are then 
given a thorough dusting of Persian insect powder. This is 
very important, as they cannot thrive when lice are present. 
We raise our chicks in outdoor brooders, using two hun- 
dred chick size, and put from forty to fifty chicks in each 
brooder. The brooder is gotten clean and is heated to ninety 
degrees the day the chicks are due to hatch, so that every- 
thing Is in readiness for them. They are given plenty of 
water at once, and their first food consists of fine dry rolled 
oats. During the first ten days they are fed exclusively on 
rolled oats and millet seed. They are fed six times a day, 
alternating with rolled oats and millet. On the tenth day, 
they are given in addition to the rolled oats and millet, well 
baked corn cakes, chopped fine. If they become droopy we 
add to and mix thoroughly with the corn cakes some finely 
ground prepared grit. This is the only medicine little 
chicks need. It is surprising to note how quickly they 
brighten up on this treatment. When three weeks old we 
gradually add to their rations cracked wheat and finely 
cracked corn, cutting out the rolled oats. We continue to 
feed the millet and corn cakes in conjunction with the 
cracked corn and cracked wheat until they are six weeks 
old. We then cut out the millet and corn cakes and substi- 
tute hulled oats and American poultry food. The American 
poultry food is given at noon, and to this is added twice a 
week fresh ground green bone. 

We believe in feeding frequently and in small quanti- 
ties at a time, as overfeeding is sure to make chicks dull 
and stupid and eventually bring on indigestion and inflam- 
mation of the crop. In giving the different rations we alter- 
nate and change as much as possible in order to keep them 
from tiring of any one ration. We give them fresh water 



twice a day, being very careful to keep the same in the 
shade. As we use outdoor brooders we are able to have 
them constantly on the move and thereby give the chicks 
pure fresh earth and grass. 

It is very important to provide plenty of shade in sum- 
mer. It is equally important to place the brooder for one 
hour each day, while open, where it will be subjected to the 
direct rays of sunlight, as this method and cleanliness are 
the only means of preventing the origin and spreading of 
tuberculosis, which is sure to occur in a close, crowded 
brooder, especially if dark and damp. 

When the chicks are first put into the brooder they are 
confined for from one to three days, the length of time de- 
pending on the state of the weather. The brooders being 
placed on a nice green grass plat, we then provide for each 
brooder, one hundred yards of wire netting, one foot wide, 
with one inch mesh. When the chicks are first liberated 
from the brooder we drive stakes into the ground and make 
a coil enclosing about three square feet of space. As the 
chicks become more active, and readily cover this space, it 
is gradually enlarged from week to week, until the whole 
hundred yards are in use. This method has saved us lots 
of worry and trouble, for when the chicks are young and are 
first liberated, if given too much space they are almost cer- 
tain to stay away from the brooder, and it is very difficult 
to teach them to return to it. Then again, brooder raised 
chicks have no mother to look after them and in case of a 
storm they can be very readily found and driven to a place 
of shelter. We have found that it is not so much the size 
of the run that makes healthy chicks, but it is the frequency 
with which they are changed from old to new quarters. 

When they weigh about one and a half pounds or are 
nicely feathered, we divide them into lots of twelve each, 
being careful to have each lot the same size and develop- 
ment. These are placed in colonies, each colony being all 
cockerels or pullets. Each colony is provided with a coop 
four by five feet, three feet high in front and two feet in the 
rear. These coops are provided with a storm door, and also 
with another door covered with fine mesh screen. This lat- 
ter door is used on warm nights, and protects the chicks 
from vermin, etc., and the outer door, which is hinged at 
the top, is lowered about one-third, which protects the 
chicks in case of storms during the night. The bottoms of 
these coops are covered with a thick bed of straw. This is 
to prevent the breast bones of the chicks from becoming 
crooked, which is very prone to occur with Cochins. We 
never provide them with roosts until they are one year old. 
When they are eight months old they are provided with 
more commodious quarters, and those showing promise of 
becoming choice exhibition specimens are cooped either in 
pairs or singly with the object of preserving their massive 
foot and leg feathering. A. W. RUDY & SON. 



LIMIT THE NUMBER OF CHICKS IN BROODERS. 

The most successful way that I have found to raise 
chicks in brooders is the following: Build a brooder house 
for each brooder, say about six by eight feet, with a door 
and a window to the south. Have these brooder houses 
scattered about the orchard, about one hundred feet or more 
apart, each house to be furnished with a one hundred-chick 
brooder. In this put from fifty to seventy-five chicks. It 
is not advisable to put more than seventy-five chicks in any 
brooder, fifty would be better, as I find that I usually can 
raise more of the chicks when I only put fifty chicks in a 
brooder than when I put in seventy-five or one hundred, be- 
sides you will have stronger and healthier chicks at matur- 
ity. I have no yard for the chicks, but give them free 
range. I do not let them run out until about a week old. 



22 



THF CHICK BOOK 



after which 1 let them run out on all fine days, but always 
keep them in until the dew is off the grass, at least until 
they are well feathered. If this is done you will not have 
much trouble with gapes. Begin feeding when chicks are 
about twenty-four hours old. For the first few feeds I find 
nothing better than bread crumbs. Feed the first week 
about four times a day with bread crumbs and oatmeal. 
After the first week, when I let them run out, I feed three 
times a day, soft food in the morning and either oatmeal, 
cracked wheat, cracked corn or millet at noon and evening. 
Change about from one kind to the other and then the 
chicks will always have an appetite. When chicks are four 
or five weeks old I feed only twice a day. Feed whole wheat 
and corn just as soon as they can eat it. Always have plenty 
of grit standing around for them, and give them fresh drink- 
ing water. Keep the brooders and brooder houses clean and 
look for mites each time you clean brooders. Saturate the 
sides and bottom of the brooders with coal oil once in two 
weeks, and then the mites will not trouble you. 

The foregoing is for chicks raised on a farm where there 
is plenty of range. I also find that farm raised chicks, as 
a rule, make stronger and healthier chicks at maturity and 
ought to be sold at better prices than those raised on small 
city or town lots, but they seldom are. You find that city 
breeders always ask double the price for their inferior stock, 
although it is no better than that raised on the farm. The 
best chickens for either the show room or for business are 
those that are raised on the farm which have unlimited 
range. EMANUEL SCHEIBER. 



BROODING AND FEEDING CHICKS. 

In raising chicks in brooders the first thing to be con- 
sidered is the brooder. A brooder should be used that will 
give the chicks plenty of warm fresh air. Some people have 
the erroneous idea that air must be cold in order to be fresh, 
which of course is false. A brooder may be so ventilated 
that the outside air is sufficiently warmed before reaching 
the chicks. Due attention should be given to see that it is 
kept at the right temperature, for if the temperature be 
kept too low or too high for a considerable length of time 
the result will be an unnatural growth of wings, and weak 
and sickly chicks. The chicks should be kept so that they 
will lie down and go to sleep and not be obliged to huddle 
together to keep warm, neither be forced to the coldest cor- 
ner of the brooder to cool off. 

Another thing to be considered is the number to be 
placed in one brooder. The brooders that I use are two and 
one-half by three feet, placed in one end of coops, which are 
three by six feet. Such a brooder will accommodate seventy- 
five chicks nicely; we have raised more than that, but that 
number or less is better. 

After the right brooder, with the right temperature and 
the right number of chicks, is obtained, the next thing to 
be thought of is the food and drink. 

There are many different methods of feeding, many of 
which we have tried with good results, but perhaps as good, 
if not the best method of feeding, for the first four or five 
days is oat flake and millet, with a few bread crumbs fed 
four times a day. After that gradually work them on to a 
mixture of cornmeal, wheat middlings, and wheat bran, with 
a few beef scraps for their mixed food, and cracked corn and 
wheat, -which should be given after they have eaten their 
mixed food. Close attention should be given to the drop- 
pings, and if they do not become hard in two or three days 
a, little black pepper may be mixed with bread crumbs mois- 
tened. Care must be taken that none of their mixed food be 
sticky or gummy. 

Another and perhaps one of the most important things 



to be looked after in raising chicks is their drink. They 
shoiiid have fresh water placed in clean drinking fountains. 
A fountain that cannot be opened and cleaned never should 
be used, for a slimy substance will form on the inside of the 
fountain and unless removed will surely cause bowel trouble. 
Many persons have lost nearly all their chickens from this 
cause and then wondered why they are not successful. If 
by reading these suggestions some of your readers are 
helped in their struggle to make poultry pay I shall feel 
repaid for my effort. A. A. HARTSHORN. 



BETTER TOO MUCH HEAT THAN TOO LITTLE. 

How easy to rear young chicks if we only knew what to 
feed, how to feed, when to feed, and how much to feed, and 
a thousand other hows, ifs and ands. 

In our years of experience in rearing chicks in brooders 
and by mother hens we find the results about the same in 
regard to the number raised and cost of food. But chicks 
reared in brooders are more peaceable and quiet and much 
more easily handled, hence make better show birds. We also 
find that we are not troubled so much with lice and disease, 
for the simple reason that remedies are more easily applied. 
Again, we have the use of the hen in the breeding yard, and 
save the food which she would eat if left with the chicks. 
This is a large gain in rearing thousands of chicks per year, 
as the food for young chicks is quite costly. 

Our method of raising chicks in brooders is as follows: 
After leaving chicks in the incubator or under the hen until 
twelve or thirty hours old, we place them in the heated 
brooder, with the thermometer registering ninety degrees, 
allowing the temperature to fall until the chicks are three 
weeks old, after which we use no artificial heat. 

In regard to pen room, I have raised as high as two 
hundred chicks in brooders four by eight feet, and one hun- 
dred and sixty-five chicks in brooder three and a half by 
six feet, and lost only one chick (and that one in the small 
brooder) this season. We never have had as good results 
with small brooders. We leave our chicks in brooders the 
first two or three weeks according to the weather, and give 
them a run in the yard ten by twenty feet, until six to eight 
weeks old, after which we place them on the farm. After 
trying many experiences with good as well as poor results, 
we find this the most successful of all, with no extra trouble 
or expense. Any one can rear a brood of chicks in this way. 

We offer a few suggestions in regard to feed and heat 
while chicks are in brooders and small yards. If you wish 
to avoid bowel trouble, give clabber milk once a day. We 
have learned this rule: Better have chicks two degrees too 
warm than one too cold. When chicks are too warm they 
will scatter over brooder and when too cold will crowd over 
one another, smothering weaker chicks. 

We always feed one teaspoonful of sulphur in food to 
fifty chicks, twice per week during dry weather. This we 
think aids the feathering. IRA T. MATTESON. 



HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY RAISE BROODER CHICKS. 

One of the first things to be considered in raising brood- 
er chicks successfully is the parent stock, which must be 
in perfect health, properly fed and given abundant exercise 
to insure fertile eggs and strong chicks. A first-class incu- 
bator must be selected, one that will hatch from 75 to 90 
per cent of fertile eggs, and when you get such hatches you 
will get sti"ong chicks that will live if properly cared for. 
The next thing to be selected is a brooder, and this Is equal- 
ly if not more important than the incubator. You must get 
a brooder that imitates a hen as closely as possible; one 
that will let in any amount of fresh air; one that has a round 
cylinder with no corners for chicke to crowd in, and one 



THE CHICK BOOK 



23 



easily heated with a lamp that will not blow out nor smoke. 
I prefer the single brooders to the pipe system. In winter 
heat your house to 60 and 70 degrees and keep your brooders 
90 degrees at the start, gradually lowering the temperature 
after twelve days. Do not let the chicks get chilled at any 
time nor allow them to crowd, for if you do bowel trouble 
■will be the result, which will take off a large per cent in a 
ehort time. Too much heat will weaken them and cause 
many to die, so you must be very careful, especially at 
night, about obtaining the right temperature, as it often 
grows very cool the latter part of the night, so a little extra 
flame should be left on in cool nights. 

I use runs five feet wide, ten feet long inside of house, 
and outside ruils fifty feet long well shaded in summer. 

The next and most important of all is food. I wish to 
say right here that overfeeding for the first four weeks of a 
chick's life has put more people out of the business than all 
other things combined. You can hardly feed too little. We 
feed four times a day for the first five weeks. The first 
three weeks we use principally dry food and make them 
scratch for every meal but that given at night. We feed 
prepared dry chick food morning and night. At ten and 
two o'clock we feed millet seed, pinhead oatmeal and 
cracked wheat. We keep them well bedded with cut clover 
two or three inches deep, and throw all their food in this. 
They also eat much of the clover. We feed very sparingly 
at first. Keep them hungry at all times. Much depends 
on keeping them at work; it assists in keeping them in good 
health. We keep grit and charcoal before them all the time, 
and fresh water is always before them. Care must be 
taken to keep their drinking dishes free from slime; they 
should be washed daily. Clean your brooder every other 
day if you bed with out hay, and every day if you use sand 
or bran. 

After three weeks your chicks will begin to tire of this 
feed, then we give two meals a day of soft food composed 
of one part stale bread soaked in water, or better, milk, one 
part bran, one part hominy meal, ten per cent finely 
ground meat. The same mash with ten per cent good 
beef scraps is a grand growing food and much more easily 
prepared, but more expensive. We continue feeding chick 
feed once a day for two weeks longer, giving mash morn- 
ing and night, using cracked corn and wheat once a day. 
If running for broilers make your mash one-half cornmeal. 
We run but fifty to sixty chicks in one lot, as this is enough 
for any single brooder if you want them to live. 

After they are old enough to leave the brooder and you 
cannot give free range make yards twenty feet wide by one 
hundred feet long and put sixty to seventy-five in a flock on 
grass yards with plenty of shade, dividing the pullets from 
the cockerels. Keep them free from lice and you will have 
birds of fine quality for breeders. EDGAR BRIGGS. 

PRINCIPALLY A QUESTION OF MOISTURE. 

"I can hatch the chicks easily enough, but to raise them 
is the question." This expression is very frequently heard 
from those raising poultry by artificial methods 

I have done a great deal of experimenting along this 
line during the past eight years. Some seven years ago I 
thought I had struck the right idea for brooding young 
chicks when flrst hatched. I had three separate houses, 
7x12. I built flues on each of these houses and put indoor 
brooders in them, also a small stove. Now, for the results. 
The chicks did fine for about a week and I thought now I 
am on the road to success, but, lo! I went to feed them one 
morning and a number of them looked like big toads swol- 
len to nearly double size. I removed the stoves and the 
trouble stopped. I then worked along a few years with in- 



door brooders and cool, dry houses with varied success. In 
18!)9 I commenced with outdoor brooders. This season I 
have used nine of them, raising some broods nearly to a 
chicken, while losing some broods almost entirely — all losses 
except a few with the universal disease, bowel trouble. 
Those brooded with hens occasionally died in same propor- 
tion. I concluded from observation that it was moisture 
and not the food that caused the trouble, as I noticed if the 
weather was dry whether the temperature was high or low 
I raised about all the chicks, and also if I got them by the 
first ten days without bowel trouble they were all right. 
To satisfy myself that it was moisture the first week or ten 
days that gave them bowel trouble I put several hens with 
chicks up in a loft for a week. It was perfectly dry in this 
loft and I never lost a strong chick after this experiment. 
From this experience I shall construct a room in the loft of 
some of my buildings next season with plenty of light and 
ventilation without fire except in the brooder and keep all 
incubator chicks up above the ground for the first ten days. 

A good many perusing this article will say, "He has 
not said a word about food." I don't expect to say much 
about food, as it is immaterial what you feed if you solve 
the moisture problem. I can raise every chick hatched, as 
I have done it, on the same food I feed old fowls when there 
is no moisture to contend with. Give the chicks plenty of 
grit and clean water, a little green food and you can safely 
feed them any food you may have, if you keep them free 
from moisture the first two weeks of their lives. 

As to space required for brooder chicks, of course the 
more the better. With my outdoor brooder chicks I use 
three boards, making a triangular yard, the sharp angle 
coming up to the brooder, using two sixteen and one twelve- 
foot boards one foot wide. I keep them in this yard with 
plenty of chaff to scratch in until they get large enough to 
fly over the board. Then I cut small openings in the boards 
for them to go out and in at will. If you have limited space 
this yard will accommodate probably forty until near frying 
size if you are careful about sanitary conditions. I am en- 
abled to put forty to sixty in brooders three feet square, and 
keep them in these at night until frying size is reached. I 
then cull and run them in a movable brood house until four 
or five months old, gradually moving the brood hou«e 
nearer to permanent house, and finally moving brood house 
away. 0. E. SKINNER. 



CARE OF BROODER CHICKS. 

It might be of some advantage to some of the readers 
of this book to know how we raise brooder chicks. While 
I have never raised brooder chicks extensively I have been 
very successful, raising from 75 per cent to almost every 
chick. At one time, out of a hatch of seventy-nine chicks, 
I raised seventy-seven to maturity. 

These birds were brooded in a home-made brooder 
heated with hot water put in gallon jugs, using two of them. 
I used flannel strips tacked to common laths resting at each 
end on a cleat nailed to the side of the hover. I use a broad 
board for a partition dividing the brooder into two com- 
partments, cutting a small opening in the partition board 
for a passway for the chicks to the run. This part of the 
brooder has a glass in the top about 16x24. 

These birds were hatched about March 1st. The flrst 
thing we do with our chicks after hatching them is to place 
them in small baskets with some flannel cloths in them, 
wrapping up good and warm — keeping them in that way 
until twenty-four hours old. By that time I have some 
fresh corn bread baked just as we use it for our table. Be- 
fore feeding them I place them in the brooder, which Is now 
heated up to a temperature of about 85 or 90 degrees. The 



3-1 



THE CHICK BOOK 



bottom o£ the brooder is covered with coarse sand, which I 
allow them to work in about an hour or two before feed- 
ing — then I feed them the corn bread crumbled up fine, put- 
ting it on the floor in the sand. By this time the little fel- 
lows are getting hungry (having absorbed all the egg food 
that nature has left for them from the egg) and they begin 
to eat the little bread crumbs and sand with a pretty good 
appetite. Only feed them a little. In about two hours or 
more I put in a little more of the corn bread, and so on, 
feeding four or five times the first few days. When they 
are three days old I give them a little warm water to drink, 
but not much. After drinking I take out the little water 
pan, and again in the afternoon give them a little more. 
When three days old, I boil an egg thoroughly done until 
the yolk crumbles and feed them that, changing oft with 
the bread crumbs. After four or five days old I begin to 
feed them a little rolled oats or fine cut oatmeal and some 
small bits of meat reduced small enough so they can eat it. 
Now I vary feed quite a little. Feed boiled potatoes, oat 
meal, corn bread, chopped onions and potatoes, ground corn 
and whole wheat. When two weeks old I feed them ground 
corn mixed with bran and shorts, one part corn to two parts 
bran and shorts. I pour hot water over the mixture, scald- 
ing it, but only enough to mix it in a stiff or crumbly mass 
and feed when cool. 1 never feed wet and sloppy food, as it 
creates bowel trouble. We aim to keep our chicks In 
medium small runs until feathered out, then we give them a 
good deal of range until about half grown, and then I turn 
them out to all th^ range they want, allowing them to go 
at will over the farm. 

After chicks leave the brooder I divide them into broods 
of fifteen to twenty to each coop, giving them plenty of 
fresh air at night, except when it is cold, then close brood 
coops up so as not to chill them. There are lots of good 
brooders made, and if properly run they are a success. 

There is a great deal in keeping the proper heat for the 
little fellows, and proper food and regular attention. Never 
allow your chicks to get chilled if you can help it, and after 
the second week don't let the heat In the brooder run over 
80 degrees, and at night always see that the little fellows 
are snug under the hover, and when you feed always leave 
them a little bit hungry, and the next time you come to 
feed them they will all be glad to see you. 

C. B. SAYERS. 



BROOD COOPS AND METHODS OF BROODING. 

In answer to your letter asking me to give my experi- 
ence in raising chicks with incubators and brooders and my 

way of feeding 
young chicks, I may 
say that I have had 
experience with in- 
cubators and brood- 
ers in a small way 
only, as it is qual- 
i t y not quantity 
that I have been 
striving for the last 
fifteen years. I try- 
to mature only 
about five hundred 
birds each year, and 
those as good as 
possible. 
The first forty chicks I hatched I put in a brood house 
nine by sixteen feet, with a partition across the center, giv- 
ing them one-half of the house. Attached to this house I 
have two yards, one for each part of the house. These yards 
are nine by sixteen feet each, and I keep them dug up for 





tlome-mide Brood Box, 



home-made Brooder Coop. 



the chicks to scratch in. Next to these yards I have a grass 
run, and as soon as the chicks have been in the house a few 
days I give them full range, always feeding and watering 
them in the yard or house. They soon get used to the place 
and will go in and out themselves. In this house I place a 
home made brood 
box about three by 
three feet, and two 
feet high. At the 
side of the box down 
near the bottom I 
make a small door 
for the chicks to run 
in and out. The top 
I use as a door, hung 
on leather hinges, 
with a small pane of 
glass in it to admit 
light. This lid I raise 
and lower for venti- 
lation. In the center 
of the box I place a 
wire screen about the size of a peck measure, and the first 
night or two, or any night that the weather should be cold, 
so that there might be danger of the chicks crouching or 
piling up, I place a lantern in this center screen. 

When my second hatch of one hundred and one chicks 
were three weeks old I took them out of my brooder again 
to make room for the third hatch, which I found this time 
to be one hundred and two chicks from one hundred and 
nineteen eggs. The second hatch of one hundred and one I 
put in the other half of the brood house and handled them 
the same as the first lot. I found when I took the second 
lot to the brood house at three weeks old that I had lost 
two chicks, leaving ninety-nine strong, healthy chicks. The 
two hatches that I put in the brood house ware put in the 
last of April and the first of May, and until the time of this 
writing (July 12th) I have lost but one chick. 

The third hatch of one hundred and two chicks at three 
weeks old I took out of the brooder again to make room for 
the fourth hatch, which proved to be one hundred chicks 
from one hundred and twenty eggs. 

The third hatch of one hundred and two and all chicks 
hatched at this time of year at three weeks old I put out- 
side in a home-made brood coop made three feet wide, five 
feet long, four feet high on high side and two and one-halt 
feet high on low side. The whole top I hang on hinges, 
and use it for a lid or door. In the center of high side I 
place a pane of glass so as to open and shut, with a wire 
screen over the inside of opening. In each end of the coop 
up near the top I leave an opening covered on inside with 
wire screen. Over these openings on the outside I hang a 
lid to open and shut for ventilation, which, when open, 
forms a roof to keep out the storm. In one end of coop 
down at the bottom I make a small door for the chicks to 
go in and out, and in the other end of coop I place a brood 
box made the same as the one described for the brood house, 
and when the chicks are old enough I take out the brood 
box and put in place of it a roosting rack made out of slats 
placed a little way apart, so as to admit air from the bottom. 
This rack is made so as to fit in one end of the brood coop 
on cleats nailed to sides of coop ten inches from bottom, so 
that I can take the rack out to clean it. In front of this 
rack and hinged to it I place a slat gate which drops down 
from rack to fioor, forming a gate to keep the chicks from 
i-unning under the roosting rack and also forming a ladder 
for the chicks to run up and down on. 

I put these brood coops around in different parts of the 
yard under trees, placed so that the morning sun will strike 



THE CHICK BOOK 



25 



one end of coop and so that it will be in the shade through 
the middle of the day. In front of these coops I place a 
small yard in which I shut the chicks for the first two or 
three days, till they get used to their new quarters, then I 
open the yards and let them have full range, always feeding 
and watering in or near the coops. In this way of brooding 
I have had the greatest success raising chicks. 

My experience has taught me that it is almost impossi- 
ble to raise chicks that are not properly incubated, when 
the weather gets real warm I find it necessary to cool the 
eggs for a long time. I leave them out of the incubator 
and leave the door open from an hour to an hour and a half 
till they are thoroughly cooled, and then the chicks will 
hatch out strong and quick and are easily raised. 

I find it best not to put more than fifty chicks in one 
brood coop, as they will do much better than though there 



were more in one coop. Fifty chicks In a coop the size that 
I have described will do well and grow one-third faster than 
one hundred in the same coop; even if you make the coop 
twice the size, the fifty will do far better than one hundred 
or more in one lot. 

My method of feeding young chicks is as follows: For 
the first five days I give them nothing but steel cut oats 
and dry wheat bran, keeping grit and fresh water before 
them at all times. For the next five days I feed much the 
same with a little variety added, such as cornbread made 
out of corn meal and wheat bran. I also feed a little 
cracked wheat. After they are ten days or two weeks old 
I begin to feed cracked corn, whole wheat, a little millet and 
sugar cane seed, green cut bone twice a week and later on 
a few sunflower seeds. Chicks are like Yankees, they like 
a varietv. WILLIAM WEBB. 



HATCH I IMG AND RAISING THE CHICKS. 



A Discussion of Simple, Practical Methods of Hatching, Brooding, Growing, Fattening and Maturing Chicks, Wherein 

Exercise and Pure Air Play Prominent Parts. 



By H.A. Nourse. 



Ml 



AN has invented and built machines to supplant the 

hen in the motherly functions of hatching and 

raising, but the old hen still has a monopoly of the 

egg producing branch of the business. Still she 

can supply such eggs as hatch strong, vigorous chicks only 

when she is well taken care of. 

The matter of conditioning the breeding stock is not a 
difficult or intricate proposition. If the birds are kept in 
good flesh, not fat, and have plenty of good food, fresh air 
and exercise, there will be no trouble getting fertile eggs 
that will hatch. Eggs with weak germs will sometimes 
hatch well, but the chicks will not be worth the trouble. 

Eggs intended for hatching should not be chilled, but in 
cold weather should be collected very frequently and placed 
In a dry room where the temperature is about stationary at 
45 degrees. Although it is desirable to set all eggs as soon 
as possible after they are collected, they may be held for 
two weeks without much deterioration if the above condi- 
tions prevail. Cases are recorded where eggs have been 
kept four and even six weeks, and have hatched. Only such 
eggs should be selected for incubation as are of medium size 
and good shape, with perfect or nearly perfect shells. Small 
or extra large eggs seldom give good results and porous 
shells allow too rapid evaporation or too rapid absorption, 
as the condition of the surrounding air varies. 

From Shell to Brooder. 

It is not difficult to secure good hatches from good eggs; 
almost any one having a good machine can obtain a satis- 
factory hatch. Authorities differ somewhat as to the bene- 
fits derived from cooling the eggs and a few deny that any 
good can come of the practice; but the consensus of opinion 
seems to be that reasonable cooling is decidedly beneficial. 
In cold weather the best hatches seem to be secured from 
eggs which are cooled slightly the twelfth day and for an 
increasing period each day until the eighteenth, inclusive, 
when they are allowed to remain out of the machine until 
the shells feel but slightly warm to the touch; but in warm 
weather they are cooled a few minutes on the fifth and the 
time increased daily up to the eighteenth day, after which 
they should not be touched again. On this day they remain 



out fifteen or twenty minutes and sometimes, on a very 
warm day, for a half hour. Cooling should be done when 
turning the eggs at evening. Do not disturb the trays from 
this time until the hatch is complete. When all the chicks 
appear to be pretty well dried, open the machine, remove 
the trays and closing the door, except a minute crack for 
better ventilation, leave the little fellows in the egg chamber 
for twenty-four to forty-eight hours, gradually decreasing 
the temperature until the thermometer registers ninety-five 
at the end of twenty-four hours. As the thermometer hangs 
above the chicks, it is probably a degree less at the chicks' 
heads. I have found this plan to work very satisfactorily. 
The chicks go into the brooder accustomed to a lower tem- 
perature and ready to eat anything that they can find. I 
believe that most machines do not furnish enough fresh air 
for the little chreks after they are well dried off and open 
the door just a little that they may be supplied. 

The temperature of the brooder should be fixed at nine- 
ty before the chicks are put in, as its complement of chicks 
adds two to five degrees when they are under the hover. 
Feeding the Little Chicks. 

So many different methods of feeding brooder chirks are 
advised by people whose experience and success entitle 
them to consideration, that what one man says should be 
taken merely as an opinion until one tries it and finds it 
satisfactory for his own use. For years I believed that 
nothing could equal the time honored corn meal cake baked 
hard and fed dry to the baby chicks. I doubt if anything 
can beat it much to-day, but the prepared chick feeds, now 
on the market, offer a well balanced ration of dry grains 
with the proper allowance of beef scrap, grit, charcoal, etc., 
in a convenient form and at a reasonable price. . 

I believe that chicks often get too much food when they 
are first placed in the brooder and that heavy losses fre- 
quently occur from that cause alone. The best results have 
been obtained when the chicks were left in the incubator for 
a day and a half without food after the hatch has been com- 
pleted, and when placed in the brooder fed one light feed 
the first day, two the second and three the third. Beginning 
on the fourth day five feeds may be fed daily; but they 



26 



THE CHICK BOOK 



should be very light and never more than enough to satisfy 
the chicks for the time. 

Exercise Necessary for Health. 
Every inducement should be offered the youngsters to 
scratch and dig and the exercising apartment in the brooder 
and the adjacent pen in the house should be thickly carpeted 
with some good scratching material to that end. Hay chaff 
is one of the best things for this purpose and can be easily 
obtained. Any one who stores or feeds hay has more or 
less of it and is usually glad to get rid of it. It contains 
many small seeds and bits of clover, which the little fellows 
make good use of and for which they will search diligently 
if healthy and not too well supplied by the attendant. The 
temperature of the brooder house should not be too high. 
Some will deny that it is well to heat the house at all, and 
many, either from preference or lack of equipment, supply 
no heat to the house e-xcept that which escapes from the 
brooders. When the chicks are small, however, I believe 



chick, and the science of feeding will be wonderfully sim- 
plified. 

Pure, fresh water should be always accessible if a dry 
grain ration Is fed. Opinions differ as to the advisability of 
supplying water when feeding a mash ration and some poul- 
trymen seem to have greater success when giving water and 
others when withholding it. The writer's opinion is that 
no water need be given for the first two or three weeks 
when feeding a moist mash, and that chicks will do well 
without it. 

From the Fourth to the Eighth Week. 

Whatever method of feeding is employed for the first 
three or four weeks, the scheme to be followed for a few 
succeeding weeks may be the same. 

The degree of heat will have been gradually reduced to 
eighty at the end of four weeks and may be further reduced 
to seventy at the end of six weeks, where it may remain so- 
long as the chicks need a hover. No more heat is needed In 




nil, rior Wew of Brooder House, uiih Pipe System, Hovers on White Leghorn Poulln )«ri/.5. 



that a moderate degree of heat, about sixty degrees, is desir- 
able in cold weather in that it enables the chicks to spend 
more time on the floor of the pen getting up their muscle. 
It should be remembered that sixty degrees recorded when 
the thermometer is three feet above the floor is not sixty 
degrees down where the chicks are. Place the thermometer 
within a few inches of the floor. 

The best manner of feeding is the one that will best 
promote exercise. If dry food in the form of grain is given 
it is best, especially in cold weather, when the little birds 
cannot get outdoors to exercise, to mix this in the litter 
and compel them to scratch it out. 

Pure Air of First Importance. 

In rearing chicks pure air is a very important factor 
that seldom gets due recognition. Cheap as it is, and neces- 
sary for the vital processes concerned in maintaining and 
•developing all forms of energy, it is not unusual to find 
brooder houses with no provision for any where near an 
adequate supply. Brooder stoves and heaters are burning 
out what little oxygen there is while owners and managers 
are wildly endeavoring to figure out some intricately bal- 
anced ration to reduce the frightful mortality. Provide plenty 
of good air under the hovers and wherever else there is a 



the house than is necessary to remove the chill in the air lu 
cold weather. 

A gradual change from the baby food of the first four 
weeks to the more substantial diet of mash, cracked corn 
and wheat should be accomplished in ten days or two weeks. 
This is a period of growth; and the chicks should have all 
the food they can make use of. More fresh air, exercise, 
and as much outside run as possible are potent factors in 
their development. Green food must be furnished. If in 
spring and the grass has started, fresh short grass cut in 
the fields when the dew is on, is the best to be had, next to 
that obtained by free range. But if nothing green is growing 
a supply of cabbage, mangel wurzels, and clover meal for 
the mash (one or all three) is the best that can be offered 
and is of substantial value. 

I have had success feeding a simple mash of two-thirds 
wheat bran, one-third corn meal, with ten per cent of beef 
scraps added, fed three times a day — morning, noon and 
night, with an allowance of wheat at mid-forenoon and of 
cracked corn at mid-afternoon. Grit and charcoal should be 
kept in the pen, preferably in a hopper where it will be clean. 

No more food should be given at any time than will be 
consumed at once and if any mash is left it should be taken 



THE CHICK BOOK 



27 



up when the attendant takes up and cleans the troughs or 
boards, as he ought to do after each meal. 

It is understood, of course, that the grain is fed in litter 
on the floor of the pen and of sufficient quantity to induce 
vigorous scratching, but no more. 

After the Eighth Week. 

From the eighth week forward different treatment must 
be accorded those intended for stock purposes or large roast- 
ers and those intended for broilers; only the broilers-to-be 
should remain longer in the brooder house. The others 
should be placed out in the field in roosting coops if the 
weather is warm or housed in warm (not necessarily heated) 
quarters if the weather is still severe. Occasionally broiler 
chicks may advantageously be placed outside, especially if 
errors or carelessness in feeding have noticeably reduced 
their vitality or if, in the latter part of the season, it is im- 
possible to maintain a temperate heat in the brooder house. 
Usually it is best to keep them in the house where they will 
take but a moderate exercise and will lay on flesh and fat 
without the toughening of the muscles which takes place 
when they have free range in the fields. 

From the eighth week to killing time plenty of green 
food should be supplied every morning; the grain should be 
fed as before and the mash materially strengthened. Three 
parts corn meal, one part wheat bran and one part first 
quality beef scraps makes a simple and effective fattening 
food, which if fed to chicks in good health, supplemented by 
green stuff, fresh water, grit and charcoal, as directed, will 
make a full fleshed, fat broiler of unbeaten quality. One of 
the most important points to remember is that no mash nor 
troughs must, be allowed in the pens except during the few 
minutes when the chicks are eating. No other than freshly 



mixed mash should be fed, and any that remains when the 
troughs are removed should be taken away and may be fed 
to old birds. 

A potent cause of trouble is overheating in the hovers. 
When the older chicks, from eight weeks forward, are al- 
lowed hovers they will frequently crowd into them at even- 
ing, cause a high temperature and lose in the night all the 
flesh they have gained in the day time. If they have access 
to hovers sufficient ventilation must be provided to keep 
down the heat. Always look through the brooders before re- 
tiring and arrange for the comfort of the occupants during 
the night. Much can be done to that end after the chicks 
have settled down. 

For chicks intended for roasters no change in composi- 
tion of the ration need be made except that a larger propor- 
tion of hard grain and less of mash should be fed and the 
number of meals reduced to three per day. Mash may be 
fed at morning and noon or only in the morning as best 
suits the judgment and convenience of the feeder, the re- 
maining feeds being of grain, principally corn, wheat and 
oats. 

When it becomes necessary to fatten roasting chickens, 
they may be confined in yards of moderate area and fed the 
same as advised for fattening broilers. Occasionally it may 
be advisable to place some of the quarrelsome males in 
a room which may be darkened except when they are eating. 

The hatching and raising of chickens, while requiring 
constant and painstaking attention, is by no means a diffi- 
cult proposition or one beyond the ability of the man or 
woman of average intelligence, and the application of com- 
mon sense will produce satisfactory and profitable results. 

H. A. NOURSB. 



REARING BROODER CHICKS IIS FLORIDA. 



Good Foods, Good Brooders and Love for the Work Produce the Same Results In the South as In the North, 



By H. Friedlander. 



D SHALL not attempt to give the readers of this 
book points on a subject on which so much has 
been written, and by so able and experienced 
writers, but X simply wish to give an account of 
my success in raising chickens by artificial means. 
I used to raise chickens in Ohio for pleasure. Fif- 
teen years ago I lost my health and was given up by physi- 
cians as a hopeless case of consumption. But I came to 
Florida, and among the pines I regained my health, and to- 
day I feel much better than I did fifteen or twenty years 
ago. Two years ago after losing my orange trees by freezes 
I took a notion to raise a few chickens. I started with a 
pen of ten hens and one cock from Ohio. That spring I 
raised two hundred chickens and sold twenty sittings of 
eggs, but I found it was such a trouble to raise them by 
hens that I bought a small incubator the following fall. I 
did not, however, depend on the incubator to hatch all my 
early chickens, but had some of my neighbors hatch some, 
and as soon as they were hatched and delivered to me, I 
put them in the brooders. 

Of course the climate here and in Illinois is quite dif- 
ferent, and whai I did here will not do there. I kept the 
brooder outdoors, and at a temperature of 80 degrees. When 



the sun was warm enough I let the chickens out in the sand, 
making a square yard about a foot high around the brooder. 
I think between incubator and brooder the latter is as im- 
portant as the incubator. But whatever you do in the poul- 
try business, incubator or brooder, you must have your 
whole mind on it, and love it. Many times I got up in the 
night to see if everything were all right, and often it was 
not. 

I feed the first day toasted and ground up bread; a few 
days later fine cracked corn, then some wheat. Sometimes 
I make bread out of cracked corn and sour milk. Occasion- 
ally I give them dog meat, that is, not the meat of a dog, 
but meat that only dogs will eat, of which we have plenty 
in Florida. This meat I grind up with a meat grinder. I 
feed as often as possible — six times a day at first. Every 
time I look at the chicks I give them something. I had 
chickens nine weeks old weighing one and one-half pounds 
and when I left Florida for the north (May 1) I had three 
hundred chicks and had not lost a single one. By May 1st 
I had sold 2,100 eggs for hatching and 1,000 more during the 
summer, and all out of forty-five pullets. This year I have 
seventy hens and pullets, and expect to raise at least 500 
chicks on a lot 100x400 feet. H. FRIEDLANDER. 



BROODER CHICKS, THEIR FEED AISD CARE, 



One Who Has Raised Flocks of Incubator hatched Chicks Without Loss Tells How to Feed and Care for Them— Bowel 
Trouble a Result of Careless Feeding — Regularity In Feeding Desirable. 



By Mrs. Bert H. White. 



'HERE can one make a beginning in this never 
ending, inexhaustible subject? I consider the 
feeding of little chicks the most important part 
of poultry raising. The welfare not only of the 
chicks themselves, but of future generations of chicks de- 
pends upon how we feed and care for the young. "The hand 
that rocks the cradle is the hand that moves the world" 
holds good in poultry as well as with humans, and the hand 
that has fed the little chicks and fed them right this year, 
is the hand that will move the poultry interest in the coming 
years. 

I raised two hatches last year, one of seventy-nine, the 
other of sixty-three chicks, and did not lose a single one. 
This fact has given me the presumption to venture to let 
others know how I did it. We hatch our chicks with incu- 
bators and hens — when the hens will sit. I am a great 
friend of the incubator, and while I have just as much re- 
Bpect now for the old biddies as I ever had, I have less con- 
fidence in them. I feed the incubator hatched chicks just 
the same as I do the chicks hatched by the hen-mother. I 
•do not think there is quite as much danger from over-feeding 
the chicks with the hen, as they are less liable to lack the 
proper exercise. After the hatch is over I remove the chicks 
to the nursery brooder, which is heated and prepared for 
them, and feed. We read so much in the various poultry 
Journals about not feeding chicks until they are twenty-four 
to thirty-six hours old. I do not believe you could make a 
chick eat before it is ready to eat, and that is when it is 
strong enough. 

The first food consists of hard-boiled eggs, cracker or 
bread crumbs, and grit, made very fine. This is in propor- 
tion of two parts of the crumbs to one of egg, and a little 
grit mixed in. There are several kinds of grit for little 
chicks, but I prefer the shell grit and roll it fine myself. 
If this food is prepared right it will be a crumbly dry mix- 
ture. That is always the first food, and I remove all they 
do not eat. This, with a little pin-head oatmeal and rolled 
oats, and a little millet seed sprinkled in the litter in the 
bottom of the brooder, is the first three or four days' bill 
of fare. I give water on the second day and after that sweet 
milk once a day. On the fifth day I add baked corn bread 
to this bill of fare. And this is how I make it— two parts 
coarse cornmeal, one part prepared poultry food, oie part 
bran (counting quarts as parts), a small handful of salt, 
and a tablespoonful of soda. I prefer to bake it in one large 
pan rather than several small ones, as there is not so much 
crust. Bake it until it is thoroughly done, and if it is just 
right it will be dry and crumble fine and not stick to the 
hand. This I always keep on hand, and it is one of the 
principal meals of the day until the chicks are old enough to 
eat wheat and cracked corn. I always mix a little grit in 
one of the feeds of the day. 

After the chicks are two weeks old I feed some coarse 
cornmeal moistened with sweet milk, and it can be made just 
moist enough so that it will be mealy. I know it is right 
-when I take a handful and squeeze it and no moisture sticks 
to the hand. If it is mealy and not sloppy there will be no 



danger from bowel trouble. Feed this sparingly at first, aa 
well as any other change in food. I always feed five times 
a day until after the third week, and then only three times a 
day. Great care must be exercised in order not to over-feed. 
I believe a great many chicks die from over-feeding, and 
those that do survive over-feeding are stunted. I think one 
must always govern the amount of food by the number of 
chicks in a brood, and no particular amount can be specified 
for each meal. All conditions being equal, just what they 
will clean up each time, and no more, is about the proper 
amount. 

I begin to feed a little wheat and cracked corn at the 
eud of the third week, and when the chicks are four or five 
weeks old I feed wheat in the morning and cracked corn at 
night, with oats for variety. I think oats is a splendid food 
for growing chicks, but I never have dared to feed it with- 
out first boiling it. It takes some time to teach them to 
like oats, but after a time they will relish it as much as they 
do wheat and corn. I think that chickens of all ages are 
fed loo much corn. Wheat and oats are the best grains 
for chicks. I like to feed a little millet seed wherever the 
chicks are in the habit of scratching. It makes a nice little 
lunch for them at noon — just a few handfuls sprinkled 
around the brooders, so that they will find it when they 
come back for a drink and a rest at noon. Once or twice a 
week I boil the wheat for their breakfast. I boll it the 
evening before and let it stay on the stove until morning 
and it is just warm enough to feed. I do not pretend to 
say that all this is strictly necessary for the successful rais- 
ing of chicks, but I have tried it and have had good results. 

Variety in feeding forms an important item. 1 never 
mix the grains for variety's sake. Try feeding the same 
kind of grain every night for four or five nights without any 
change, and the chicks will not seem to care whether they 
eat or not. They seem to say to me — "That old stuff again!" 
It may be partly imagination, but I believe that variety ia 
necessary to keep their appetites in good condition. I al- 
ways keep a box of oyster shell and grit near each brooder. 

Hatch your chicks early, "the quicker the sooner," as 
David Harum would say. Spring is the only nesting time 
for wild birds and it is the only good time for domestic 
breeds. If by any mischance or continued spell of damp 
weather, any bowel trouble may result, the feeding of boiled 
rice or scalded sweet milk will very soon adjust that trouble. 
I never feed any condition powder, pepper or any of the 
poultry cures advertised, but I use plenty of prevention, and 
never need any cures. Regularity in feeding is a very im- 
portant matter in successful poultry culture. Have a regu- 
lar time for each meal and do not vary from it. The first 
meal should be at daylight, and the last as late as possible 
before the chicks go to roost. Chicks are early risers and 
should be let out of the brooder as soon as it is daylight. 
I always build an enclosure around each brooder, and do 
not let them out of the brooder, and do not let them out of 
this enclosure until after the dew is dried off, or on cold 
windy mornings I can keep them there and put them back 
in the brooder to keep them from getting chilled. It Is a 



THE CHICK BOOK 



29 



great mistake to allow too many chicks to run 
together in a brood. Scatter them and have 
brooders enough so that not over forty chicks 
are brooding together in the same brooder. I 
think thirty about the right number. Familiar- 
ity breeds worse than contempt with chick- 
ens, it breeds lice and disease. 

The care of the brooder is very important. 
I exercise great care In keeping the nursery 
and brooders clean. How the chicks do enjoy 
clean quarters, and how they always begin 
scratching and working, with their little song 
of "weeting" all the while. If that does not re- 
pay you, you have not that love for the work 
that is necessary for successful poultry culture. 
The first week I clean the brooder twice, and 
after that usually give it some attention every 
day. I put dry sand in the bottom of the nur- 
sery and brooders and cover that with chaff or cut straw, and 
by taking off the top each day the sand need be renewed 
but once a week. I like the sand in the bottom of the 
brooders better than chaff alone, as the chicks do not slip 
in it. I have had chicks lame themselves by slipping on 
the smooth floor of the brooder. 

I keep the temperature very near 90 degrees for the first 
three weeks. After that govern the temperature by the num- 
ber of chicks In the brooder and the outside temperature. 
Trim the lamp every evening and fill it so as to insure an 
even blaze all night. Sometimes it is not necessary to keep 
the lamp lit all day in the outdoor brooder. On warm, sun- 
shiny days the lamp can be put out and lit towards even- 
ing. If the brooders are not new or have been used before 
keep an eye open for lice, for like the poor they are always 
with us, and it is almost impossible to keep the brooder 
chicks from visiting with biddy's chicks. 

After my chicks are six weeks old I remove them from 
the brooder and put them in a box to sleep. I get a large 
dry goods box, and put a tarred paper cover on what is to 
be the top. This prevents dampness, which is the greatest 
foe of little chicks. Nail a board on the top and bottom of 
the open side, or what is to be the front, and put on lath 
close enough so that the chicks cannot get through. At one 
end make a gate or door, whichever you wish to call it, out 
of lath and hang it with a piece of old leather or heavy 
cloth for hinges, with a hook to fasten it. (I use screen 
door hooks.) Put in sand and litter, and you have a good, 
substantial brooder coop that will last for years. I face 
thesa boxes to the south, and if there is a south wind I put 
old pieces of carpet over the opening for the first few nights. 
My chicks sleep in these coops until they are old enough to 
go to roost. Sometimes they grow so they fill the 
original box too full, and then I have to either give 
them a larger box or set another right beside the first one. 
These box coops are moved frequently, and each one is as 





Just Let Out for Moralna Exercise, 



Subjects of Experiment at Rhode Island Experiment Station. 

far from the other as it is convenient to have them. They 
soon learn which is their very own place to roost, and I aJB 
always sure I will find each brood in its place. Of course 
it is work, but not trouble, and in bad weather I forget all 
about the work, in the satisfaction of knowing that my 
chicks are tucked in cozy and dry at night. 

Keep Uie drinking fountains clean. Scald them at least 
twice a week. If you are a close observer you know how 
foul they become without any one telling you. When it 
can be had I give all my young chickens sweet milk to 
drink once a day until matured. I always wash the fountain 
out after it has had milk in it, before putting water in it, 
and when the weather is warm enough to sour the milk 
that is left in the fountain, warm water is used to wash it 
out. I would just as soon eat my dinner off the same plate 
that I did my breakfast, without- washing it, as to put water 
in a drinking fountain that had had milk in, without first 
washing it. I do not think it a good plan to let chicks drink 
in the morning before they have had their morning meal. I 
have had the best results by giving milk for their morning 
drink after they have had their morning meal. When it is 
cold I think it is best to warm the milk, and in a continued, 
damp spell, sometimes scald the milk. 

I believe in little things, and it is the little things that 
count with little chicks. A little draught, a little too much 
food, a little neglect, cause all sorts of big evils and play 
havoc with the chicks. I do not believe there is a particle 
of excuse in poultry fanciers allowing so many chicks to die. 
In nearly every hatch there are one or two runts, and they 
will make up their minds to live or die in a few days, but 
after that if I lose a chick I feel thatlhave been slack or care- 
less in some way. I believe that every year the true fanciers 
are raising a greater per cent of chicks hatched than they 
did a few years ago. Of course there are people who start in 
the poultry business not knowing or trying to learn any- 
thing about the habits and nature of chickens. They fail 
to raise even ten per cent of the chicks they hatch, but they 
seldom stay in the business long enough to either help or 
hinder it. But the true fancier of the stick-to-it type every 
year will raise "better poultry and more of it." 

The care of chicks does not end until they reach the 
breeding pen. All through the long hot months of July and 
August they must be under our watchful care. This is the 
time that is most trying to the beginner, and this is the 
time that they usually make up their minds to stay or with- 
draw. Plenty of fresh water constantly before them is very 
essential for growing chicks. I always want my chicks 
to have full crops at night, but I want them to be hungry 
enough through the day to be willing to look out for their 
dinner themselves. Twice a day is often enough to feed the 
early hatched chicks through the months of summer. As 
the cool days and nights come on in the fall, they will let 
you know when they need an increase of rations. Let the 
chicks grow lanky and leggy, you can soon put the weight 
on them when cool weather comes. Care for the little chicks, 
remember it is always the prize winners that die— that is the 
reason why we get so few. MRS. BERT WHITE. 



SUCCESS WITH BROODER CHICKS. 



Poullrymen Agree that the Strength of the Germ In the Egg Is of First Importance— With Well Hatched Chicks, the 
Problem Is More than Half Solved— Raw Eggs Advised for Small Brooder Chicks. 



By J. W. Hodson. 



■ HEN one begins to think of raising young 
chickens, the first and most important thing 
that needs attention is the fertility of the 
eggs. If you have good, strong, fertile eggs 
the battle is half won. To be sure, judgment must be 
used in the operating of the incubators and brooders. The 
nearer we run the machines to nature the better the results; 
but if the eggs are poorly fertilized, the germ being weak, 
the best incubator that is made, operated by the foremost 
expert in the land, cannot get out a good hatch, and there 
are nine chances out of ten that the chicks that do get out 
of the shell will die before they are two weeks old, and 
those that do not die will never grow as they should. But 
if the eggs have the life and kick in them you need not 
worry. If you give the little peepers half a chance they 
will soon show you that they came into the world to stay. 

It is in the winter when the courage of the poultryman 
is tested most severely. Sometimes we have filled our incu- 
bators with eggs in January and February and at the end 
of twenty-one days wished we had sold the eggs at the store. 
Sometimes at the end of the fifth day, when we made our 
first test, our hopes were high and we were telling our broth- 
er poultrymen what good hatches we were going to have, 
for we had taken only eight or ten infertile eggs out of a 
hundred; but by the time the fourteenth day came our as- 
surance began to wane, and at the end of the twenty-first 
day we have found that nearly all the little chicks had died 
in the shell, getting perhaps twelve or fifteen out of eighty- 
five or ninety tertile eggs. 

We could not blame the incubator, for it had been tested 
before. The trouble was with the eggs, and the lack of a 
strong life germ in them was due to some fault either in 
the hen or male bird, and their inability to produce well 
fertilized eggs was probably due to some fault of our own — 
either they were not properly housed or fed, or may be both. 
The houses may have been too cold or the chickens roo fat. 
In either case you will not get many strongly fertile eggs. 

We keep our incubators in a cellar where the tempera- 



ture is about the same all the time. Outside changes make 
little difference in the temperature around the incubators, 
therefore when we once get our machines regulated we have 
little trouble with them, and when we go to bed we sleep 
and get up in the morning to find the thermometers within 
one degree of where we left them the evening before. 

Care of the Little Chicks. 

As soon as the little chicks are thoroughly dried we take 
them out of the incubators and do not allow them to remain 
in the temperature of 103 or 104. As long as they are damp 
we believe they are better off in the incubator, but no longer. 
We have a brooder ready to receive them that is heated to 
about 100 around the hover, 85 or 90 about one foot from 
the hover. We let them remain in the brooders thirty-six 
to forty-eight hours before we give them anything to eat or 
drink. They will show signs when hungry. We keep the 
bottom of the brooder covered with clover chaff or cut clo- 
ver, and when the iiltle ones get hungry you will see them 
picking and hunting for something to eat. 

Our first feed consists of a mixture of cracked corn and 
wheat that has been put in the oven and parched, or roasted 
as they do coffee, only it is not quite so brown. To this we 
add .1 little rolled oats, grit and oyster shells. This mixture 
is sprinkled in the litter and they must work for what they 
get. 

When about one week old we feed once a day a soft 
mash, consisting of one part wheat bran, one part middlings, 
one part corn and oats ground together (with the oat hulls 
sifted out), and about five per cent of beef meal. Mix this 
well together and take enough raw eggs to make it stiff and 
crumbly. We use incubator eggs that have been tested out 
on the fifth day. We think this is one of the finest foods 
we can get and the way our chicks grow satisfies us that 
they have about what they need. After the chicks are one 
week old we feed only three times a day; when less than a 
week old, four times. We want to see the chicks hungry. 

J. W. HODSON. 




Colony Houses and Some of the Piano Box Brooders on Beaver Hill Farm, Described by Charles P. Cloaaer. 



BROODING AISD FEEDING CHICKS. 



A Large Brooder Which Can be Converted Into a Roosting Coop — Plenty of Room Essential for Growth — The Correct 

Degree of Meat — The Food and Manner of Feeding. 



By Charles P. dogger. 



HLTHOUGH my experience with brooders is not 
particularly extensive, I have learned something 
about the rearing of chicks artificially that 
will benefit the amateur at least. A good 
brooder is essential. If one intends doing much of 
any work with brooders, they should be five and one- 
halt feet square, or large enough to hold comforta- 
bly fifty chicks until twelve weeks old. No matter how 
large or now small the brooder is, never place more than 
three or four chicks to every square foot of floor space; 
overcrowding must be avoided. The best success I have had 
with young chicks has been with our piano box colony 
brooders. They are closely and neatly covered with heavy 
paper, are five and one-half feet square, five feet high in 
front, three feet high at the back and have a solid shed roof, 
with a door at the side and a window in front. We set 




A Flock of Promising White Leghorn Chicks. 

them twelve inches off the ground, so that the lamp box 
underneath can be reached conveniently. The heating ar- 
rangement is very simple; we cut a hole in the floor fourteen 
inches square six inches from the rear wall, making the 
center of this hole midway between the ends. Into this we 
"fit closely the ordinary square tin radiator, the bottom com- 
ing flush with the floor of the brooder and resting on pro- 
jecting cleats, with the fume pipe projecting through the 
roof of the brooder. We use a No. 3 lamp burner, which 
gives enough heat in cold weather. Over the radiator with 
a half inch air space we place a board hover twenty-six 
inches square so that it projects six inches beyond the ra- 
diator ou all sides. From it are suspended the usual cotton 
flannel curtains. The thermometer is attached to a round 
stick twelve inchos long which projects through a round 
hole at the back of the brooder and which reaches past the 
middle of one end of the hover. One great advantage of 
this brooder is that when your chicks no longer need artifi- 



cial heat you can in five minutes convert it into a colony 
house by simply lifting out the radiator and nailing a board 
fourteen inches square in its place. Put in perches and 
thirty chicks can perch there until ready for the breeding 
pens. 

From my individual experience in raising chicks with 
brooders I find my greatest success is secured when I have 
less, rather than more, than fifty chicks together. When 
I do not exceed this number I have no cases of bowel trou- 
ble if my chicka are healthy when placed in the brooder. 
Warmth and Food. 

I start my chicks in the brooders at ninety degrees of 
heat and the warmth of fifty chicks will soon increase it to 
one hundred. This temperature, however, should not be 
maintained more than a week, when it should be gradually 
reduced to eighty by the time the chicks are three weeks 
old. This is my plan in the winter or early spring, but later 
in the season I do not get over eighty-five degrees to start 
with and gradually reduce to seventy degrees. My exper- 
ience has been that chicks coddled too much are never 
strong. For the first week I keep them as near the hover 
as possible. One cannot be too careful, and a board placed 
six inches from the hover will keep the little fellows within 
bounds and they will not become chilled. Should they feel 
the cold they can easily get back under the hover again 
and warm up. 

As to the manner of feeding, I may not conform to the 
generally accepted order of things. In the first place I am 
no believer in soft food for young chicks, but am fully con- 
vinced that it produces more bowel trouble than any other 
one thing, not excepting crowding. Therefore it is very sel- 
dom my young chicks get mash. Forty-eight hours after 
hatching I sprinkle a few dry bread crumbs on the brooder 
floor with a little fine grit. I keep milk or water before 
them all the time, and the second day feed them three times 
a few broken crackers. The third day I start with my chick 
feed and I find the little fellows can pick out the small par- 
ticles in great shape, and how they do grow! In feeding 
dry food, composed mostly of grain, with the necessary 
quantity oi meats and bone, I believe we imitate nature 
closer than by feeding a mash. 

I believe in exercise and see more real benefit in the 
heat produced in the body by scratching than that which 
is given artificially. Clover cut in about one-fourth inch 
lengths is light material and if cracked grain or millet is 
scattered in this litter, how the little fellows will work! 

Another thing 1 never neglect is the use of bran to pre- 
vent bowel trouble. In each brooder I keep a small box of 
dry bran and charcoal and the quantity of bran these little 
fellows will eat and the good condition of the bran fed chicks 
is surprising. Our early chicks are fed plenty of cabbage or 
apples for green food. CHARLES P. GLOGGER. 



CARE OF BROODER CHICKS. 



If Labor Is an Item of Expense, then a Successful Way of Raising Chicks With One-third the Usual Labor 

Deserves a Fair Trial. 



By W. fl. Bushell. 



0(3 17 now shall we best care for the brooder chicks?" 
ILJI We leave the chickens ia the incubator twelve 
■^ ^ hours after all the chickens are hatched, which 
gives thfm strength; then we remove them 
to the brooder thaf Is heated up to ninety degrees under 
the hover and seventy degrees outside the hover. We leave 
the chicks alone in the brooder twenty-four hours before 
feeding or watering them. The floor of the brooder is cov- 
ered with sand and cut clover, the clover being used to pre- 
vent the chicks from slipping. 

When the youngest chick is thirty-six hours old, we 
feed and water them for the first time, some of the little 
ones being forty-eight to sixty hours old. We give them 
prepared chick feed and clean water in a fountain that is 
made so that the chick can drink, but cannot get into the 
water or soil it. 

The chick food consists of all kinds of seeds that grow 
in the fields, with some grit and beef scraps. We feed three 
times a day and only what the chicks will eat up clean. 
We feed it in the cut clover so as to force the chicks to ex- 
ercise. We do not have any bowel trouble nor sickly chicks; 
nor do we have tr> run out and feed them every two hours; 
nor do we keep the cook busy baking johnny cake and all 
kinds of foolish things and washing dishes; nor do we give 
milk to drink — it is too mussy. We simply feed the chick 
Teed and give clean water three times a day. The work is 



cut down and we raise the chickens. It is seldom that we 
find a dead chick in the brooder. 

We are often asked by visiting poultry people if the 
chick feed is not expensive. I always reply that it is the 
cheapest food you can get, because it saves two-thirds of 
the labor and you can raise the chicks successfully on it. 
Besides, it is of great help in keeping the brooders clean. I 
know we had less trouble to raise nine hundred chicks last 
year than some people did who raised only one hundred. 

We use the hot-water, over-head pipe, continuous brood- 
er system and we keep from thirty to forty chicks in one 
pen, changing them every week to a fresh compartment. 
The pens are all built alike, except that some of the pipes 
are higher to allow for the growth of the chicks and so 
that the hover will be cooler. By having each pen alike the 
chicks do not mind the change. They know where to find 
their hover and they do not "pile up." 

My house is twelve feet wide, seventy feet long, and is 
piped the entire length. The pens are three feet wide by 
nine feet long, which leaves an alley-way three feet wide in 
which to work. We have been very successful in raising 
chicks in this house and are well pleased with it. 

I use a little air-slaked lime on the floor and dust the 
hover of my brooder once a week. We clean the brooder 
under the hover every morning and change the straw in 
the pen every fifth day. I have never had a louse in my 
brooder house. W. H. BUSHELL. 




A Substantial Brooding House That Is Well Shaded In Summei — A Building for Storage, etc. (Attached) Is Shown at the Right. 



HATCH I IS G AND REARING CHICKS WITH HENS. 



The Location for l\ests aad Protection from Lice and Weather— Care of Hens and Newly Hatched Chlcks- 

Cooplng and Feeding the Brood, 



By H.A. Nourse. 



THE process of hatching and raising chicks by 
natural means is simple and easy on the face 
of it; the hen does the work and in proof of 
her ability we cite a case wherein the hen 
steals away and in due time returns with a big brood 
of chicks which she raises with little or no loss. Granting 
that this may be the uniform result, we must give some 
credit to the conditions and not all to the hen. This satis- 
factory result does not often occur when the weather is 
cold, but rather when it is warm, and the hen selects a nest- 
ing place with natural advantages. The nest is surrounded 
by the pure air of nature, and the hen can leave it without 
danger of the eggs becoming chilled. She dusts herself 
thoroughly and often in the damp earth and thus keeps her 
plumage clean and comparatively free from lice. 

When the hatch is completed the chicks are not immedi- 
ately stuffed with food, but exercised gently and brooded 
frequently while gathering from the pure air o.xygen for a 
myriad of strength giving blood corpuscles, until the nour- 
ishment with which nature provides all well hatched chicks 
is assimilated and stronger food may be digested and made 
most of by a system ready for the work. 

But if we want early chicks we must set hens in the 
cold and changeable weather of early spring. Sometimes 
we set them in a place poorly protected from the weather 
and often the hens are neither allowed a dust bath nor given 
any protection whatever from the irritating pests — lice. 

A setting hen deserves aboxit as much protection from 
cold or heat as an incubator, but seldom gets it. In cold 
weather a well built warm room is a great advantage and 
in warm weather, which frequently overtakes the poultry- 
man before he has finished hatching, well ventilated and 
moderately cool auarters will be of considerable assistance. 

Setting the Hen. 

The nest should be carefully built of fine, soft hay and 
of such size and shape that the hen will fit nicely into it, 
affording perfect protection to the eggs. It should be rea- 
sonably flat on the bottom at hatching time or the chicks 
attempting to leave the shell at the bottom of the nest will 
often be crushed by the unhatched eggs rolling down from 
the sloping sides. 

Every means should be used to secure the absence of 
lice. Nothing is so likely to bring about a poor hatch of 
good eggs or to prevent the successful rearing of the chicks 
as lice. A dust bath tor the sitters to dust in should be 
provided if practicable and each bird should be thoroughly 
dusted with insect powder at least once a week, the last 
dusting to be done three days before the hatch is due. 

If a pedigree record of the fowls is kept the nest should 
be marked with the number representing the parentage of 
the chicks and each chick punched as it is taken from the 
nest, thereby avoiding all chance of mistake and making 
the mark when it will hurt the chick least and be least 
likely to fill up. 



There is danger of empty shells capping unhatched eggs 
and imprisoning the chicks and it should be prevented by 
reaching under the hen and removing the shells at frequent 
intervals during the exclusion of the chicks. 

Nothing is gained by hurrying the chicks from the nest; 
if the hen desires to leave the nest as soon as the hatch is 
finished (or even while it is in progress) the nest may be 
covered with a light cloth (if the weather is cold) and the 
hen allowed to stretch, eat and drink, after which she will 
again seek the brood and quickly make them warm and com- 
fortable. It is well to give the hen a little food and water 
while on the nest if the chicks eome out slowly, confining 
her to the nest for two or three days. 

Caring for the Chicks. 

After the chicks have been out of the shell twenty-four 
hours it is early enough to move them to their coop. 




A Stolen Nest. 

As each chick is taken from the nest, and the identiflca- 
tiou mark punched in the web of its foot, its head should be 
anointed with vaseline or lard sufficient to smooth the down 
closely about the skull to kill head lice. The hen should 
be well dusted and the action repeated once a week so long 
as she remains with the chicks. 

If small coops are used it is an advantage to be able to 
put them under a t-hed with open front to the south where 
the chicks will be protected from inclement weather and 
winds while getting plenty of exercise upon the ground; the 
hen remaining confined to the coop. 

I am much in favor of large coops, at least three feet 
square on the bottom, tightly built to keep out dampness, 
yet permitting sufficient ventilation to keep them cool in 
warm weather. 

Care of the Brood. 

The first day in the coop the hen should have a good 
ration of whole corn, but the chicks need only a very light 



THE CHiCK BOOK 



feed of crumbled stale bread, johnny cake, or prepared chick 
feed. I incline toward the prepared food, because it can be 
bought ready to feed at a reasonable price and gives excel- 
lent satisfaction. 

The second day the little ones may have two light feeds 
and on the third day three. After that three, four or five 
feeds may be offered each day according to the time and in- 
clination of the feeder, but no more should be given at any 
time than will be eaten within a few minutes. During the 
first few days the hen may be fed any large grain and the 
brood won't make much effort to eat it, but after a few 
days the young ones will try to eat any and everything that 
the hen does. Cracked corn and whole wheat may safely 
be fed with the chick feed, the latter being gradually elimi- 
nated after the second week and its place taken by the 
cracked corn and wheat, with an occasional feed of mash 
at the feeder's option. Clean water should be provided 
from the start and fine grit for the chicks and coarse grit 
for the hen should be given with the first feed and be al- 
ways accessible. 

A small proportion of animal food is desirable af;er the 
first week. Most of the prepared foods contain this in the 
proper proportion, but if it is supplied by the feeder, sifted 



beef scraps to mako five per cent of each day's rations will 
be found very satisfactory for the first two weeks or for 
four weeks if the chicks have a chance to hunt insects and 
worms. 

When the weather is warm and the birds are sate from 
birds and beasts of prey the hen may be given her freedom 
and permitted to run with the chicks after the first week. 
This is of great value to the chicks, giving them wider range 
and providing all sorts of little seeds, bugs, worms and in- 
sects, which nature intended they should have. It makes 
the chicks self-reliant, too, and better able to take care of 
themselves, while making the most of their opportunities, 
when the hen leaves them to shift for themselves. 

A cropful of food collected by the chick from nature's 
resources is worth two of that fed by an attendant and con- 
sumed by a chick confined within a narrow enclosure. It 
is gathered a little here and a bit there, some vegetable and 
some animal, by vigorous exercise taken under conditions 
which cannot fail to promote a healthy action of the diges- 
tive organs. Thus the nourishment is absorbed and the 
body strengthened and properly developed. Nature's meth- 
ods are always best when the work is done in nature's 
season. H. A. NOURSB. 



THE NATURAL METHOD IS SATISFACTORY. 



How an Expert Hatches and Rears Winners for the Largest Shows — Making the Nests — Sitting the Hens — 

Cooping and Feeding the Chicks. 



By M. S. Gardner. 



MANY writers of late have told us how to hatch 
chickens in incubators, and raise them in brooders, 
that little remains to be said upon that subject. 
Very little has been written, however, in regard to 
the other and older method of letting the hen rear her own 
brood. While I use incubators for hatching my earlier 
chickens, I still hatch the greater part of the May and June 
chicks under hens, and tor two reasons: First, because I 
believe it gives the hen a rest from laying that is beneficial 
to her, and second, because I find that chickens hatched and 
reared by hens prove better foragers and grow faster for me 
than those grown in brooders. 

To successfully raise chickens with hens, several things 
are absolutely necessary. First, strongly fertilized eggs 
from perfectly healthy and vigorous breeding stock. Second, 
quiet, medium sized hens, and properly constructed nests. 
Third, a man to care for the hens who will exercise eternal 
vigilance, and who can control his temper under most try- 
ing circumstances. Doubtless every man who raises chick- 
ens has a way of his own. I do not claim that my way is the 
only one, or even that it is the best, but simply this, that 
I have been raising thoroughbred chickens for more than 
twenty-five years, and with success, by the method I shall 
describe. During the season of 1902 I raised more than five 
hundred chickens under hens. Although May and June 
were the wettest m.'/nths ever known in this state, my loss 
from all causes did not exceed five per cent of the chickens 
hatched. 

Setting the Hens. 

As March is a cold month in northern New York, we do 
not attempt to set any hens until April. When the weather 
moderates so that we feel sure the eggs will not chill, we 



prepare to set our first hens. Several pens are reserved for 
our sitters, from four to ten hens being placed in each pen, 
dtpauding upon the size of pen and also upon how much 
room we can spare for this purpose. The nests are made on 
the floor of straw or swale hay which is held in place by two 
by fours placed upon the floor or else by narrow strips of 
board nailed to the floor and not more than four inches 
hi.?h. It is desirable that the hens be able to walk onto the 
nests, and not be compelled or allowed to fly into them. 
Sometimes if crowded for room these nests are not more 
than three feet apart. We usually set several hens at one 
time. When we have the required number of broody hens 
we take them carefully from their nests after dark at night 
and place them in their new quarters, having previously 
prepared the nests in the manner I have described. In each 
of these nests we have placed one or two glass eggs or possi- 
bly cheap hens' eggs. By the side of each nest is a potato 
crate or a frame covered with wire netting. Each hen is care- 
fullv set on the glass eggs and a potato crate placed over 
her. A hen that has been broody for several days and is of 
the proper disposition to make a good mother will at once 
settle down upon her new nest and go to sleep. Occasionally 
one will resent such treatment and proceed to kick up a 
i-umpus. Such hens should be removed at once, as they 
disturb the quieter ones and seldom prove successful mothers. 
T do not find more than one in ten that will refuse to sit 
in a nest of this kind. The first day we keep the room dark- 
ened and do not let the hens come off to eat. The morning 
of the second day the crates are removed and sufficient light 
let in to enable the hens to see the corn, grit and water 
that have been previously placed there. A large dust box 
is also provided for them. Sometimes two hens will fight 



THE CHICK BOOK 



35 



when first let off the nests, if taken from different pens in 
the breeding houses, but this seldom proves a serious affair, 
as they are usually too hungry to waste any time in this 
manner. After eating and drinking four out of every five 
will go back to the nest in which we placed them. Some 
few will exchange nests, but it is very seldom a hen refuses 
to go back to one of the nests. As all of the eggs are in 
plain view from all parts of the pen, two hens seldom try 
to occupy the same nest. 

In making the nests we use great care in preparing the 
bottom so that the eggs will not come in_ contact with the 
floor. We also make them rather flat and large enough in 
diameter so that the eggs can roll from under the hens' 
feet as they step into the nests. My reason for making the 
nests upon the floor is this: Under natural conditions all 
fowls no doubt built upon the ground, as partridges do. 
When a hen can walk onto her nest she does it very care- 
fully and seldom breaks an egg. If compelled to fly or jump 
up she usually succeeds in falling into the nest and breaking 
one or more eggs. Another advantage in placing the nest 
upon the floor is that the eggs do not 
dry out as badly as when placed far- 
ther from the ground. 

The Eggs Require Attention. 

Now to return to the sitting hens. 
We have them fed and watered and 
back on their nests. If one fails to go 
back the room is darkened, the hen 
is carefully caught and placed upon 
her nest, and the potato crate drop- 
ped over her. If at this time all re- 
main quiet the eggs for hatching are 
brought and placed under them. 
From ten to fifteen are given to a 
hen. the number depending upon the 
weather and the size o£ the hen. In 
very early spring not more than ten 
eggs are placed under each hen, as 
the outer ones may become chilled or 
at least get cold if more are used, 
then as the hen rolls them over the 
chilled eggs are pushed further un- 
der her and other's are rolled to tht 

outside to be spoiled during the next cold night. I am sat- 
isfied that many poor hatches in early spring are due to the 
fact that too many eggs are placed under the hens. 

We now have our hens properly started on their three 
weeks' task and have only to watch them carefully and see 
that they have fresh water every day, with an abundant 
supply of grit and corn. A lousy hen never should bo set. 
We keep a good supply of fine dry dirt for dust bath before 
our fowls at all times, so we have no trouble with lice. By 
the second day we usually remove the potato crates from 
over the hens and thereafter they are at liberty to come off 
to eat or roll in the dust bath as often as they desire. Every 
day when they are off each nest is inspected and if any eggs 
are broken the others are carefully washed, but we seldom 
have any trouble of this kind. I have no use for a ten pound 
hen as a sitter or anywhere else. For hatching purposes I 
prefer one weighing not more than six or seven pounds. 
Where it is possible to do so we set all the hens in one 
pen at the same time. Where some are put in later they 
usually disturb those that have been sitting, then when the 
first chicks began to hatch it makes those set later discon- 
tented. If the weather is very hot and dry and the eggs 
are drying down too much, we sprinkle the nests with 
warm water once or twice during the last two weeks. 



When the chicks begin to hatch we disturb the hens as 
little as possible. Sometimes if they are very quiet I run 
my hand very carefully under them and remove all the 
empty shells so they will not slip over the unhatched eggs 
and Fmother the chickens. 

Cooping and Feeding. 

Nearly all our chicken coops are dry goods boxes covered 
with tar paper, to keep the rain out. These are boarded up 
tight about half way across the front, and slatted the rest of 
the distance, so the chickens can run out and in, but the hen 
cannot. Into these coops the hens and chickens are removed 
when the chickens are about twenty-four hours old, a little 
bran, chaft' or dry sand having previously been sprinkled 
upon the floor. Not more than a dozen chickens are given 
to one hen and we often give them only seven or eight 
chicks each. The coops are scattered out through the corn- 
fields and in other protected places so that each breed has a 
fresh run and plenty of grass. When the chicks are placed 
in the coops they "re fed dry oatmeal and hard boiled egg 





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4 Fine Pluce far Growing Chicks on lite Farm of Gardner and Dunning. 

chopped up very fine. They are also given some fine grit 
and a cup of water, which is refilled as often as necessary 
and not allowed to sit in the sun where it will become 
warm. The second day they are ted on cooked food. Three 
parts cornmeal and one part "red dog" flour or wheat mid- 
dlings are mixed with skim milk and a sufficient ami5unt of 
baking soda to make it light. It is then baked until well 
done. This is softened with milk or water and fed five times 
a day for the first ten days. At the end of ten days if the 
weather is suitable the hen is let out of her coop and allowed 
to go where she pleases. After this they are fed but three 
times per day. At six weeks or before we begin to feed 
cracked corn and wheat. Occasionally a hen fails to return 
to her coop the first night and we must find her and drive 
her in, but usually they come back without trouble. 

As each brood of chickens is placed in the coops they 
are punch marked and examined for head lice. If any are 
found their heads are greased with pure lard, which usually 
answers the purpose and a second application is seldom nec- 
essary. Each night every coop is shut up to keep out the 
rats and skunks which abound in northern New York. For 
this purpose a frame covered with a fine wire screen is used. 
This admits plenty of fresh air, which is absolutely essential 
to growing chickens. 



3G 



THE CHICK BOOK 



Some of our hens take their broods fully a quarter of a 
mile from their coops every day, and in this way teach them 
to hustle for themselves. Nothing will develop a Barred 
Rock cockerel's muscle and make his bones grow like clias- 
ing grasshoppers through a cornfield. It answers the same 
purpose as foot-ball for a boy. When the hens begin to 
wean their chicks, great care must be exercised to prevent 
crowding in the coops at night, as several broods will often 
be found in one box. If they are not separated, crooked tails, 
twisted wings and small, stunted chicks will be the result. 
I believe crowding and overheating in the coop or brooder 



to be the cause of more poor chickens, more crooked, de- 
formed birds, more attaeks of roup and other conUgioiis 
diseases, than all other causes combined. We do not intend 
to allow more than ten or twelve chickens in one coop, no 
matter how large it may be, and as soon as possible teach 
them to roost, as they are less liable to crowd and pile up in 
a heap on the roost than in a coop. For this purpose we 
use a weaning coop, or colony house, set up from the ground, 
into which we move our growing chicks as soon as they 
evince a desire to fly upon the top of their small coops at 
night. M. S. GARDNER. 



HOW I MANAGE SITTING HENS, 



A Well Known Breeder Tells How tie Has Reduced to a Minimum the Work of Hatching with Hens, 



By Dr. H. F. Ballard. 



TO BEGIN with, breeders of Asiatics should have, or at 
least they like to have some early sitters. To have 
early sitters we must have early layers. To have 
early layers we must begin to feed for eggs early, 
say January 1. Then if you get a few hens to start the in- 
cubating fever in February you have done well. I aim to. 
set every hen that goes to sitting early, and I do not wait 
tor two hens to sit at a time so early in the season. I have 
an old shed barn in which I set all my hens, and they are 
never allowed outside of the barn from the day they are 
set until the chicks are three days old. Each hen has a nest 
box about eighteen inches square that can be closed in front. 
I generally get boxes at the grocery or drug store and nail on 
boards in front and use a barrel stave as a door, which can 
be slipped down in front when closed. 

The first evening the hen is placed on two or three 
china eggs to test her persistence as a sitter and her charac- 
ter as to temper. If she settles down quietly the first thing 
she is A No. 1. If she stands and begins to poke her head 
out between the boards, she is A No. 2. But do not pay any 
more attention to her now, just go quietly away and lot her 
think it over. The chances are she will be sitting quietly 
in the morning, but whether she is or not I do not let her 
off the nest, but place food and water before her where she 
can reach it, and do not disturb her otherwise. If she is 




4 Prize-i\lnning Hen and tleatlhy Brood. 



quiet the eggs can be given her the second evening, but if 
she is restless it is better to wait until the third evening be- 
fore giving her the eggs. Some hens will do better after 
they get a nest full of eggs. They seem to know that the 
china cgg.s are a delusion and a snare. 

If the hen persists in standing up and cackling and 
tramping over the nest regardless of the eggs, the quicker 
you break her up the better. For the last five years I have 
never seen a sitting hen that I could not break from sitting 
in three days, and I am breeding Cochins, a breed that are 
considered by many people as good for nothing but sitting. 
Those people simply do not know much about Cochins — that 
is all. I have bred Langshans, Brahmas and Plymouth 
Rocks, and the Cochins are no worse than any of them 
about sitting, while they make the best mothers of the 
whole list when they sit and hatch a brood. 

In the same building where I set my hens, I keep all my 
extra cocks and cockerels. These are divided up into coops 
of one, two, or three or more, according to their fighting 
propensities. Into one of these coops our contrary sitting 
hen — that thought she wanted to sit and would not — goes 
instanter. If she is a white hen, of course she is put in 
with a white male bird; if a Partridge, with a Partridge, 
and so on. Inside of three or four days he has persuaded 
her to give it up as all a mistake, this sitting business any- 
how, and you can ;hen turn her into the regular pen again. 
So much for the breaking up, and it will work every time, 
whether your hen has been sitting three days or three weeks. 

To return to the sitter, providing she sits all right, on 
the morning of the third day, when she has been on the nest 
about thirty-six hours, open the door of the coop so she can 
come off. Do not take her off, but let her come off in her 
own way. She will be much more apt to go back to the nest 
of her own accord, but if she does not, try to gently drive 
her back. If she won't go back, catch her and put her back 
and fasten her up again. If she goes back of her own free 
will you may leave her nest open, as by that time she is 
getting used to things and will perhaps need little further 
attention. Sometimes it requires two or three trials before 
she will go to her own nest, but she must be taught to do so, 
or fastened up each time until she learns it. In the house 
where my sitting hens are I always keep plenty of food, 
water, grit and ash heap to roll in. 

After your hen has been sitting about eight days you 



THE CHICK BOOK 



37 



should test out all the infertile eggs. All the tester I use is 
a common lantern and my two hands. I set my lantern on 
top of the box in which the hen is, any time after dark, on 
the eighth day, or on up to the tenth day. I take each egg 
between the thumb and first finger of both hands and hold 
it up between my eyes and the light, so I can see through. 
If the egg is infertile it will be a clear yellow color all over. 
If there is a chick started in it the embryo can be seen. 
Testing in this way is the simplest thing imaginable. I 
leavo the infertile eggs in a basket until morning, when they 
are broken into the ground feed and fed to the laying hens. 
If you have a pen of hens that have taken to eating their 
eggs feed them to them without breaking them. Feed them 
all they will eat and they will get foundered on eggs and 
soon let them alone. 

Some writers advise setting two hens at once, and when 
you test out a part give what eggs are left to one hen, and 
set the other on fresh eggs. Do not do it. It makes the 
second hen have to sit too long and about the time she 
comes off with her chicks you may lose her. But let each 
hen keep her own eggs and if there are not more than eight 
or nine chicks when they both hatch, one hen can take all 
and the other, for her own good, must be broken up. Another 
thing that I do for my sitting hens is to sprinkle every hen 
once a week with some good insecticide. I make a mixture 
of crude carbolic acid one ounce, sulphur four pounds, and 
sifted coal ashes about eight or ten pounds. This dilutes 
the carbolic acid sufficiently, so it is not dangerous and can 



be sprinkled over the backs of the hens on the nests, with 
the bare hand. 

As I said in the beginning my sitting hens are among the 
least of my troubles, but if somebody can tell me how to 




The Brooder of Our forefathers. 

kejp my neighbors' dogs and cats and rats and weasles and 
minks from killing my birds, without my getting into a 
racket with my neighbors, such information will be thank- 
fully received. H. F. BALLARD, M. D. 



HATCHING WITH STRAI\GE HEISS. 



Orange Boxes Made Very Good Double ^es^s—The Care of Sitting Hens that are Moved from One Farm to Another. 



By C. A. Dattoa. 



THE plan which I have followed for the past three 
seasons in managing sitting hens has given very 
good results, and I will attempt to explain it with 
the hope that some reader may glean a kernel of 
helpful information therefrom. 

I use a small room in the barn for sitters, partitioned 
off for that purpose. For nests I have found nothing better 
than orange boxes, which generally can be had at any gro- 
cery or fruit store for the asking. They are about the proper 
size, each box holding two hens. They are made so as to 
give a free circulation of air through the nests, which is 
very essential to the comfort of the hen in warm weather. 
I have a hinged door to each box to make it handy in letting 
the hens oft and on their nests. For nest material I use 
straw. 

Being a Leghorn breeder, I have to buy sitters from the 
neighbors. I gather them at night and place them in the 
nests on china eggs. They are not let off until the second 
day after they are put on the nests. After this they are 
taken from the nests each day and fed whole corn and grit. 
The hens are often quite wild, but by being gentle with them 
they soon become quiet enough to place eggs in their care. 
Each day these hens are taken from the nests, fed and re- 
turned again in about fifteen minutes and shut up. This 
prevents hens from leaving their nests and fighting with 



other hens, which generally results in broken eggs. I then 
darken the room and all is quiet till the next day. By this 
method I have had hens hatch two sittings of eggs and come 
off looking well. 

When buying sitters it is best to make sure that each 
one has taken up the business in sober earnestness before 
they are moved to their new location. Those who sell 
them naturally desire to get them out of the way as soon 
as possible, and will often urge the buyer to remove them 
before they have been broody long enough to be reliable. 
A hen should sit three or four days before she is trans- 
ferred to another place. Then, if they are handled care- 
fully and made comfortable during the journey, they will 
continue to behave well in their new home, even when the 
surroundings are entirely different. The man who care- 
lessly pulls a hen off her nest, thrusts her into a sack and 
jolts her home on his shoulder, ought not to expect the 
hea to sit. But sometimes she does, for some hens can 
scarcely be induced to change their minds by the harshest 
treatment. 

During the past three years 1 have bought from twenty- 
five to forty sitting hens a season and out of this number 
have had only three which positively refused to sit; and I 
have had an average hatch -Tf eleven chicks per hen, the 
season through, by following Ibis plan. C. A. DUTTON. 



A HOUSE FOR SITTING HLNS. 



A Southern Poultryman Hatches With Hens and Incubators, but Prefers Hens for Brooding the Chicks- 
How the Hatchery Is Equipped. 



By F. E. Wlage. 



EWILL give my way of hatching and plans of the kind of 
hatching houses I use. On account of oil being so ex- 
pensive in this locality, and for several other reasons, 
I consider a kind of half artificial half natural mode 
of conducting the hatching is the best way. Of course my 
"better half" gives me a hand and I don't see how I could 
manage without it, because hired help down here is, to say 
the least, very unreliable. 

We have prepared for fertile eggs and vigorous chicks 
by selecting our best birds, keeping them in good condition, 
but i;ot in any way forcing them for the sake of winter 



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PLA.M NO 2 
StCTlOM cy HEAT BO/ES 




'^- ^ " — -^ 8 ^ SECTlOtH 

PLAN, MO I PUA.M HO 3 

Plan of House and Equipment for tite Use of Sluing Mens Described by F. E. WInge 



eggs, and by keeping two males for each pen, placed therein 
on alternate days. 

I aim to set six hens and to start a fifty egg incubator 
at the same time, and as soon as the chicks are dry I divide 
them among the hens, so each hen gets from twelve to six- 
teen chicks to care for, depending on the season of year. If 
there are too many chicks, some of the hens waiting for 
eggs are made to brood them. 

We hatch during February, March and April, and in the 
fall during September and October. 

Hatching houses are 20x20 feet. The sills are two feet 
from the ground. The houses could be made any length, 
but we use them for curing cow-pea hay in and this size has 
been found most convenient. They are made entirely of 2x4 
scantling and 1x12 inch rough boards. Boards on walls are 
left one-halt inch apart and of course not battened so as to 
admit air for the curing of the hay. 

Plan 1 shows the floor plan with ten pens. I place three 
sitters in each pen, thus the house will accommodate thirty 
sitters at one time. The letter N in plan 1 shows position of 
nest boxes in hallv/ay; A shows feed and grit boxes; W, 
water pans, and D, dust boxes. As may be understood, all 
work in setting and caring for hens is done from the hallway. 

Plan 2 shows a section of nest boxes without bottom; 
W is a wire used in closing front door; T top doors; P being 
nail used for fastening the wire of the front doors. 

The pens having been cleaned out, water and feed boxes 
filled, we begin letting out one hen in each pen at 4 p. m. 



She will as a rule bs waiting for this and greatly enjoy a dust 
bath, a good drink and a quantity of whole corn. Only one 
nest door being open, there is no one to fight with and she 
cannot make a mistake in nests, so no eggs will be broken 
or chilled. After the expiration of twenty minutes, during 
which time we are employed with something else, we again 
visit the hatching house, when as a rule the hens at liberty 
will have resumed their duty. The second hen in each pen is 
then liberated and after another twenty minutes the third 
one. Thus we must be at hand for about one hour, but the 
actual work in caring for all thirty hens will not take more 
than ten minutes. The best of it is 
that any one can be entrusted to do 
the work now and again should it be 
necessary. 

We place a couple of handfuls of 
mint (which grows wild here) in nest 
material and there is no trouble with 
vermin. Above each nest is a piece of 
pasteboard tacked, with number jf sit- 
ting, number and kind of eggs, when 
due, number of chicks and punch mark. 
When hatch is over it is copied in the 
hatching record book. It should be re- 
meml)ered that good accommodations 
for the sitting hens, not only make the 
work for caring for them easier, but 
often are of considerable assistance in securing good 
hatches. The poultrymen further north, who desire to set 
hens very early, must protect them from 'the cold, or good 
hatches cannot often be obtaineki. The hen will generate 
enough heat to keep the eggs at the required temperature 
during very cold weather, if the building in wliich she sits 
offers sufficient protection so that her comb will not be 
touched by frost and if the nest is deep, warm and snug. 

In the south we have less of the extreme cold to guard 
against, but late in the season wa find it advisable to see 
to it that the sitting hens are afforded some protection from 
the heat. A hen is not comfortable, and will not often 
bring off a good hatch when she is confined in a hot-box. 
The building should be sufficiently well ventilated to keep 
it fairly cool and frequently cleaned and disinfected to 
make the air fit for the hens to breath. 

On poultry farms , where the natural means of hatching 
are employed and scores, or perhaps hundreds, of sitting 
hens must be cared for, the time required to do this part 
of the routine work is considerable and any plan that prom- 
ises 'to decrease the time required, and consequently the ex- 
pense, for "time is money,"' is worthy of serious attention. 

It is not well to let off a group of hens in the same 
apartment at one time, for they are almost sure to fight, 
or ca,use trouble in some way. To take off each one sep- 
arately requires too much time. The house and equipment 
described enables the one in charge to care for the hens in 
the best manner and the leaslt time. F. E. WINGE. 



THE SITTER AND HER BROOD, 



Making the Nest and Setting the Hen— Feeding and Caring for the Hen and Chicks— A Satisfactory 

Coop and Runway. 



By Mrs. S. E. Hurlbut. 



THE best thing I have ever found in which to set hens 
is an empty barrel. Cut a hole nine inches from the 
bottom end. Make this hole seven inches wide and 
nine inches high. Put about three inches of dirt in 
the bottom, leaving it about level. Put in a double handful 
of tobacco stems or waste tobacco, laying it level, then put in 
enough fine hay or straw to make a good nest. Put a couple 
of china eggs in the nest and put in the hen. Stand the bar- 
rel on end and put a board across the top for shelter and to 
darken the nest, so it is more secluded. This also prevents 
the hen from flying upon the top where she is liable to foul 
the nest and eggs. 

If the hen is uneasy put a board or wire screen in front 
of the hole in the barrel so that she cannot get out for a day 
or bo. Let her sit on the china eggs for a couple of days so 
that the nest will be thoroughly warm, then put the eggs 
under her. Keep plenty of good clean water and ground 
corn where she can get it and give her a chance for a dust 
bath. If you have a shed or vacant coop where the ground is 
dry the bath is assured. You can place several of these 
nests side by side, as the barrel gives seclusion so that the 
hens cannot see each other. 

After the lien has been sitting about a week dust her with 
some good lice killer, and dust again a few days before 
hatching time is due. The cover can be lifted from the bar- 
rel to do the dusting and if for any reason you wish to take 
the hen off the nest you can lift her out without disturbing 
the eggs. Leave the chicks in the nest at least twenty-four 
hours after they are hatched, and it is well enough to put a 
piece of board in front of the entrance, so that the chicks 
cannot fall out. It often happens that, if one of the chicks 
gets out and peeps loudly, the hen will leave the nest and 
brood the lone chick, leaving the others to get chilled. At 
the proper time take the hen and put her in the coop and 
give her the chicks. After the chicks are a few days old 
turn the coop over in the evening and dust the hen with 
powder, which will work down through her feathers onto the 
■chicks. I occasionally turn the coop bottom side up and 
sprinkle kerosene thoroughly on the inside. 




Mrs. liurlbuVs Brood Coop. 




Runway Used With Mrs. Hurlbut's Brood Coop. 

Feeding the Chicks. 
The first food given the chicks is usually bread and 
-milk, and for a water dish for small chicks a low tin baking 
.dish, not more than an inch high, is all right. The food I 



give after the first day is meal and middlings (equal parts 
by measure) mixed, with about one tablespoonful of animal 
meal to one quart of thj food. This is thoroughly scalded 
and fed cool five times a day for about two weeks. After 
that I feed the mash three times a day and in the middle 
of the f o r e- 
noon and af- 
ternoon they 
are fed hulled 
oats and 
wheat screen- 
ings mixed. I 
increase the 
animal meal 
gradually un- 
til they are 
well feathered 
out. when I 
feed about one 
part animal 
meal to eight 

parts meal and mid-llings — say eight pints of food and one 
pint of animal meal, or that proportion. I occasionally feed 
chopped onions, which they always relish, and give them 
grit and oyster sihells. I throw it into the runs and let 
them eat whait they want of it. During the winter, when 
the hens have picked out the coarse shell and grit, I put 
the fine grit in a box and keep it to feed to the Chicks in 
the spring. 

I keep the chicks in the runs until they are well feath- 
ered out, moving the runs as fast as they eat down the 
grass, in hot weather being careful to place them in the 
shade. I take the hens away from the chicks when they are 
large enough, and that depends on the weather. In warm 
weather they will do without the hen younger than when 
it is colder. Each breeder must use his own judgment, 
and in fact the keynote of success is good judgment. 
There are no ironclad rules that fit all conditions. My 
yards are about fifty by one hundred feet and well shaded. 
I put the chicks into these yards when they are about ten 
weeks old. After the chicks eat off the) green 
stuff in the yards, I feed green food once a day 
and gradually reduce the regular meals to three 
times a day. Anything I can get that is green 
I feed them — grass, clover, weeds, radishes, cu- 
cumbers, cabbage, lettuce, gre«n corn, tomatoes, 
apples, etc., all help. I have a good garden and 
the surplus goes to them. 

After the first hard frost in the fall I let 
them run at large and they have a picnic in 
the garden and fields until cold weiather. I 
keep grit and shell in the boxes by them all 
the time in the yards. I give them plenty of good clean 
water, keep them free from lice, give them shelter from rains 
and sun, and when cold weather comes good, comfortable 
houses. I raise Barred Plymouth Rocks and have no troub'e 



40 



THE CHICK BOOK 



in raising spring hatched cocl^erels that will weigh nine 
pounds and over, and pullets that will weigh seven pounds 
and over by Christmas. 

Coop and Run for Hen With Chicks. 
I have seen many sketches of coops, runs, etc., and pres- 
ent herewith one that I have used for the past ten years with 
good success. Some of my friends have adopted this style 
of coop, and one man says of it, "It is the only thing with 
which I can have any success in the village, as cats are so 




4 Prosperous Brood of Prospective Money Makers. 

thick they get all my chicks it they are allowed to run." 
This coop is proof against hawks and crows as well, or any- 
thing that does not dig. 1 like the old-fashioned A coop for 
several reasons. The chicks can get down near the bottom 
of the coop under the sides, and if the hen scratches they 
are out ot the way. They are cheap and easy to move, are 
water-proof and easy to free from vermin. I cut the sides 
thirty inches long, twenty inches wide, using ten-inch wide 
boards with a batten of tin or wood over the middle joint. 
Take three pieces of board, one by two, one for the ridge 
pole, and the other two for battens near the bottom. Nail 
these to the sides, as shown in shaded places in front of 
coop. Take a piece, one by three, and put across the front 



five inches from the bottom, as shown in the sketch. Nail 
a piece, two and one-half inches wide, in the middle, leav- 
ing a space two and three-quarter inches wide at each side. 
Then nail the rest solid. Nail a board of matchijd stuff 
lengthwise on the back, or bevel the edges so the water will 
shed properly if not matched. You can leave a small hole 
at the top of back for ventilation if necessary. I usually 
cover the ridge with a strip of tin to make it water-proof. 
When the chicks get large enough to jump up onto the cross- 
piece and get out, put a piece 
of one-inch wire netting across 
the upper part of the front. 

To make the runs take a 
sixteen-foot board ten inches 
wide, cut in two for the sides, 
eight feet long. Then take 
another board and cut two 
pieces three feelt ten inches 
long for the ends, and two 
pieces four feet two inches 
long for the cover and top 
board. Take four pieces ten 
inches long, two by two, for 
corner-pieces. Nail the three- 
foot-ten-inch pieces to them, 
place them between the sides 
and nail them securely. Take 
one piece of the four-foot- 
two-inch, place it on the end 
of the run, lay the other piece 
next to it and nail it securely. 
Take two straps or T hinges 
and hang the first board to 
the one nailed and yoti have 
the door by which to feed 
and water. Cover the balance 
of the top with one-inch mesh 
wire netting four feet wide. 
Saw a hole for the opening 
in one end eight inches long 
and five inches wide from 
the bottom. Mtove the coop 
up to it so that the open- 
ing will correspond with the end of the run. On cold 
nights or in rainy weather put a board in front of the coop 
on top of the run. This is necessary during rain storms, 
as the rain falling on the boards will spatter into the coop 
and make it damp unless protected. 

In hot weather I put the coop and run in the 
shade, and move them every few days onto fresh 
ground. These measures are not arbitrary, as the runs 
can be made longer or shorter, or higher, to suit the fancy 
of the breeder. I am giving you a general idea. The cover 
and board adjoining make a good shelter for the chicks to 
teed under when it rains and furnish a shade when the sun 
shines. IMRS. S. E. HURLBUT. 



REARING CHICKS NATURALLY AND ARTIFICIALLY. 



The Difficulties and How to Avoid Them — Conditions That Affect the Health and Growth of Young Stock— Hatching 

and Brooding— Feeding Chicks With Hens and In Brooders— Soft Food 

Best to Produce Early Maturity. 



By H. E. Moss. 



THERE is such a multitude of "Don'ts" associated not 
only with the poultry, but with every other business 
that to attempt to enumerate them would be an end- 
less task. What is often called "horse sense," or 
good judgment, or brains, must determine between the right 
and the wrong; but many occasions will arise where ex- 
perience is necessary upon which to base judgment and 
where the experience of others can be had and applied. It 
is equivalent to so much time and money saved, for with- 
out it we must test the question ourselves and if found to 
be a failure it is just so much paid for experience or paid 
up capital. We shall, therefore endeavor to be as clear and 
explicit as possible, assuming that the large majority who 
will avail themselves of this advice are amateurs or begin- 
ners who are willing to profit by the experience of others, 
and to whom success or failure means much. We shall 
avoid the don'ts and write from the positive, not the nega- 
tive viewpoint. 

The rearing of domestic poultry should show a profit 
and will do so in proportion to the intelligence with which 
it is conducted precisely as in any other busness; but where 
the highest order of talent is employed, the profits on the 
capital invested will far exceed those in any other legiti- 
mate business. 

We Will Start With the Chick 

As it emerges from the shell. If the eggs begin to pip 
in the evening they should all be excluded by the next morn- 
ing. In cool weather compel the hen to keep her nest for 
twenty-four hours longer; this will permit the chicks to 
sleep and gain strength, which they will very rapidly, as 
the absorption of the yolk now begins and the new functions 
are fully established. Then remove her with the brood to 
the coop, but before doing so, dust her thoroughly with a 
good insect powder and apply a little grease or oil on top 
of the chicks' heads and under the wings. This will pre- 
vent much future trouble in fighting lice. This should be 
repeated once a week until they are past danger and can 
dust themselves in soft moist earth as their instinct teaches 
them. 

Have Your Coops Ready. 

In severe cold weather they should be placed under shel- 
ter, but where they get as much direct sunshine as possible. 
An open shed facing south or east is preferable where the 
chicks can have a dry run when a late snow covers the 
ground. A gravel or sand floor is very desirable, and if 
dry, will be found very satisfactory. Your coop will require 
no bottom, but can be shifted its width every day, thereby 
insuring a clean floor. Otherwise a wooden floor is indis- 
pensable and should be covered with chaff, fine litter, ashes 
or any suitable material and renewed frequently. 
Food and Warmth 

Are now the two factors upon which success depends. 
The latter need not be considered here, as the hen is to 



brood them, and she will take care of them; but in cold 
weather we render it more comfortable for them by placing 
the coop in a sheltered location, at the same time allowing 
the chicks liberty to run in the sunshine during the middle 
of the day. Should the snow be deep, clear a place for them. 
They thrive better, grow faster and make stronger, hardier 
fowls than the later hatches that have the extreme heat of 
summer to contend with before they are half grown. A 
long protracted hot spell checks their growth in a very 
marked degree. Cold does less harm than heat, provided 
they can run under the hen and get warm whenever they are 
so inclined, and if the hen or the warmth is always to 
be found when they want it, there is little danger of 
them becoming chilled. The best results will usually be 
had where the hen is kept in her coop until the chicks are 
weaned, thereby compelling her to hover the chicks when 
ever they demand it and avoiding the enforced excessive 
exercise she would often subject them to, tiring them out 
and making them leg weary. Scatter a shovel of sand in 
front of the coop, which will serve as their first grit. Have 
a feeding board or trough ready; also drinking fountain, 
which wash out daily and keep filled with pure water. After 
your chicks have been out of the shell thirty-six hours, give 
them a feed of stale bread crumbs soaked in milk and 
squeezed almost dry. They will eat sparingly at fir^t, as 
they should. They have been nourished by the yolk which 
was taken into the abdominal cavity just before hatching 
and they would not suffer from the lack of food for three 
days. The bread and milk does not overtax the delicate 
digestive organs, which as yet have been unemployed, and it 
cleanses the crop, gizzard, and intestinal tract and prepares 
it for its functions. Feed every two hours for the first 
thrive days, but only what they will eat up clean each time. 
Little and often is the rule for little chicks up to ten days 
old, then the capacity of the crop increases and the inter- 
vals can be lengthened. 

We have seen so much of the hard boiled egg nonsense 
and the fatality from it that it is surprising that any one 
should recommend it. Others will advise corn meal, 
johnny cake, meat stew, hash — anything. Now, it would 
be just as consistent to feed these things to a new born 
babe as to a chick. It has been done and no doubt some 
survived, but only because green food happened to be ac- 
cessible, and the chick after eating the poison, found the 
antidote. A dog can eat Rough on Rats and then drink a 
pan of milk and suffer no injury, but that does not justify 
me in advising it as a steady diet for dogs. Those who pre- 
fer the dry grain ration should after the third day use pin- 
head oat meal and a little millet seed until they can eat 
cracked wheat, finely chopped corn, and hulled oats, which 
latter should constitute the main food for a growing chick. 
Add to this a little millet or chopped sunflower seed with 
a little (very little) cut green bone or lean meat daily after 
they are ten days old, the amount depending on the season 



42 



THE CHICK BOOK 



and the number of insects and worms obtainable on range. 
Green food or bulky vegetable food should be fed daily and 
as regularly as a horse or cow is fed hay. It is just as es- 
sential and serves the same purpose in the digestive process 
in one case as in the other. Accustom them to eat whole 
wheat, buckwheat and cracked corn as soon as possible. 

A Preference for Soft Food. 
Our preference and that of many others, especially 
where the chicks are raised for market, is soft food, for two 
reasons: First, because we can combine all the necessary 
elements and secure the proper ratio of food constituents 
at each feeding. They cannot select certain seeds or parti- 
cles which they prefer and waste the remainder, as they will 
in dry feed. They usually hunt out all the millet seed first. 
as this is "candy" to the little chicks and a luxury even to 
old hens. Bury a handful under a haystack and they will 
leave jio straw unturned until they find it. No matter how 
accurately we figure out our dry feed ration, we can't force 
them to eat the less palatable after they have filled up on 
"candy" and our calculations are knocked out. Second, be- 
cause a soft, properly compounded food needs no accessories 




A Flock of Chicks That Will Crow Fast If Well Fed. 



except green food, which is Imperative in either case, and it 
saves much energy which would be expended by the chicks 
in grinding it. Bear in mind, we are raising these chicks 
for profit and not as pets. We must, therefore, force them 
to the limit of their ability to eat, digest, assimilate and 
grow. Quick maturity is what we desire. In order to achieve 
this we must meet all the demands made by the growing 
powers for material to grow on. You can't deceive nature. 
If it calls for nitrogen, carbon will not answer; if it calls 
for water, nitrogen will not serve, and any ration that is not 
balanced as it sbould be feeds one side and starves the other. 
If any system of feeding could be devised whereby we could 
mature a chick in four weeks, we should all quickly adopt it, 
and if we were raising chicks exclusively for market we 
should not depart from it. Again, a ration may be balanced 
and its ratio of protein (albuminoids) to carbohydrates, 
freo fat, and mineral salts properly determined and yet fail, 
as it surely will if the protein is derived exclusively from 
vegetable or grain sources. The experiment stations have 
lately proved tbis fact, which some of us discovered long 
ago by costly experience, at that time our only teacher. A 
ration bearing precisely the same nutritive ratio but with 
a certain percentage of animal protein will be highly suc- 
cessful, but if lacking it they famish and die from starva- 
tion in the midst of apparent plenty. A chick properly fed 



will be very eager for the next feed. When they are not, 
there is danger ahead. Never feed all they will eat up by 
lingering over the feed trough. They will overload their 
crops if permitted and where dry food is given, especially 
rolled oats, the swelling takes place in the crop faster than 
the food is passed into the gizzard and often proves fatal. 
An excess of bran is also dangerous. A little is necessary 
in some cases and desirable m others, as the husk or shell 
acts as a sitinuilant to intes/tinal action, but an excess causes 
irritation and bowel trouble. 

The above is comparatively an easy matter to follow, 
for when natural brooding is employed more than half of 
our anxiety is removed, and when the business is to be con- 
ducted on a small scale this method will answer, but where 
large numbers are to be hatched and grown, any but the 
artificial system would be entirely too laborious and out of 
the question. The above being fully understood, the only 
change to be considered is 

Artificial Brooding. 

Unless we can furnish a uniform and constant supply of 
heat of the right temperature trouble begins, and once 

begun there seems to be 
no end. Get this one fact 
clearly in yx>ur mind, that 
warmth is more essential 
than food in handling an 
incubator brood. They will 
manage to live on almost 
any kind of food even if 
they do not grow and 
thrive, but variable heat in 
the brooder is faltal. The 
chemical and nutritive 
changes that food must 
undergo in the digestive 
process can only be carried 
on at a high temperature. 
This is the vital tempeia- 
ture; below it the process 
ceases. This at once checks 
nutrition. Doctors describe 
health as the perfect har- 
mony of nutritious changes, or physiological ease. 
If the temperature of the body falls below the vital 
point, nutrition is disturbed and disease follows. If the 
chick is chilled before the yolk is fully absorbed, nothing 
will save it. The nutritive process has been checked. What 
food is taken afterward passes wholly or partly undigested 
and death soon follows. Fatal as cold is when prolonged to 
discomfort, it is necessary after the chick has learned where 
to run to hover and get warm, to allow them a little exer- 
cise in an outside run in moderately cold weather when they 
can take in the sunshine. If left to their choice, they will 
seek the warmth before they become chilled to the danger 
point, provided they know where to find it. Here is where 
the artificial brooder is better than many old hens, that 
often keep going, no matter how cold it is, while the chicks 
cry and beg for the warmth that is denied them. Their 
plaintive peep is sure sign of disicomtort, and whenever 
it is heard it is high time they were looked after. Where 
chicks are to be raised by the thousands for market, arti- 
ficial incubating and brooding must be adopted, as it would 
require too much help at too great an outlay to make it 
profitable with hens under the natural method. Three sit- 
ting hens would cause me more trouble and annoyance than 
one incubator, and with their broods would require as much 
attention as a brooder house holding several thousand. 



THE CHICK BOOK 



43 



The Broodei- House 

Must be warm and dry. There are many good plans 
published. On« that will be found very satisfactory is six- 
teen feet wide, four feet high in front, and six in the rear 
with the hip of the roof plumb with the face of the hover 
so as to allow head room in the passage. Divide your space 
into three feet at the rear for a walk; two feet for width 
of hover and eleven feet for pen. This building can be ex- 
tended any length desired. Don't attempt to heat the hovers 
with lamps in any latitude north of Birmingham, Ala., or 
you will fail. You might be able to get the temperature under 
the hover high enough, but the pens would be chilly and 
there is where they must spend the greater part of the day 
if they are to thrive. Use a water jacket stove and double 
loop of inch and a half pipe in the hover and a single loop 
under the windows, of which there should be one in each 
pen, raised twelve inches from the floor. Make the pens 
four feet wide, this with eleven feet in length outside the 
hover is sufficient to start one hundred 
chicks in, but they must be thinned out as 
they grow older. A movable lid over the 
pipes is all the hover consists of. They will 
be contented and scratch and exercise all 
day long and run under the pipes when they 
wish extra warmlth. No curtains are re- 
quired when tiie building is heated as we 
describe. They are undesirable at best. 
When the hover is curtained off it often is 
allowed to become filthy, and impure air and 
am'nonia fumes are held there for the chicks 
to breathe. If the hover registers too high 
a temperature and the pens too low. lift or 
lap the covers so the heat from the pipes 
can rise more readily. 

Crowding works much mischief. Out- 
door and indoor brooders heated by lamps 
are frequently rated at too high a capacity. 
If one-half the chicks were assigned to them 
there would be less loss and better chicks. 
The action of the chicks is a perfect indi- 
cation of their feelings. Whenever they 
stand around humped up and chirping, they 
are in danger and are losing ground instead 
of gaining. In ordinary winter weather they should be 
given access to the outside runs for a few hours when the 
sun Is bright. They are better for it and will run in and 
get warm when they feel inclined. 

Keep your supply of coarse sand and fine grit and clean 
drinking water constantly before them. After they are ten 
days old they are quite hardy and practically safe; and if 
properly fed and of breeds suitable for broilers they can be 
made to weigh one pound in forty days, one and a half 
pounds in flfty-five days and roasters five pounds each at 
four months. When reared with small yards for exercising 
they move about much less than when on free range, and 
while they have sufficient exercise to maintain good health, 
tliey have not sufficient to waste energy or flesh or toughen 
their muscles. They gain in weight more rapidly and make 
heavier, plumper broilers in a given time. 

Feeding Brooder Chicks. 

I use three distinct mixtures of food between hatching 
and marketing time. The first ten days I take special care 



of their digestive organs and prepare them for the active 
work demanded from the eleventh day until two weeks before 
marketing. I feed a narrow ration, the basis being oats in 
some form. I then hasten the finishing with the best pos- 
sible material, adding more corn, and aim to add flesh faster 
than frame or feathers and to distribute what fat is deposit- 
ed in globules throughout the meat, making it tender and 
juicy instead of accumulating layers of internal fat or 
patches under the skin, all of which is wasted and lost in 
cooking and serving the fowl. A properly fattened fowl 
should not show any visible fat when dressed, but not one 
in a thousand poultry raisers knows how to put meat on 
a growing chick, and the only way they can turn out what 
might pass for a plump broiler or roaster is to work on such 
breeds as develop the quickest and then cover them with as 
much fat as possible in addition to the meat. This is all 
wrong. Soft, tender, juicy meat and a round, plump breast 
is what is wanted aud the fatty delusion must stand aside. 




These Chicks are Housed In Permanent Buildings and have Large, Well-shaded Runs. 



No one grain has so great a tendency to deposit internal 
fat as corn, and this is the very last source we should go to 
for flesh forming food. I believe that in the near future 
our best markets will demand machine crammed or crate 
fattened poultry. They have for many years demanded 
crammed ducklings. The only reason they have not been 
known by this name is because no machine is necessary to 
cram a duckling— he will stuff himself if given the food. 

The rations fed for any specific purpose may vary great- 
ly as to material, and in different localities will naturally 
be compounded of the most available material if suitable, 
but for a growing chick they should always consist of oats 
(minus the hulls) in some form as the base, and this forms 
one-half the ration. Other grains can be varied, whether 
cracked or ground, but five per cent of the bulk must con- 
sist of meat or ground bone in some form after they are ten 
days old as well as an abundant daily supply of succulent 
green food or steamed clover. If you omit the meat or green 
food trouble begins and sho'ws in weak legs, naked bodies, 
stunted and uneven growth and blue, skinny carcasses when 
dressed. h. E. MOSS. 



BROODING, COOPING AND FEEDING CHICKS. 



A Writer who Is Regarded as Authority Discusses Brooders and Brooding, Foods and Feeding, and Describes the 

Proper Care for Chicks of Different Ages. 



By A. F. Huater. 



HATCHING the cMcks is but half the battle, if, indeed, 
it is half the battle, as many a poultryman who 
has rejoiced in good hatches by either hens or in- 
cubator has afterwards learned to his sorrow. With 
incubator chicks raised in brooders elbow room seems to 
be a most important factor, and want of elbow room is one 
cause of great mortality in brooder chicks. It is quite nat- 
ural to suppose that a brooder which is three feet square 
(giving nine square feet of floor space), is abundant room 
for seventy-five or one hundred chicks, and, indeed, it is for 
chicks as they come out of the incubator, and if we do not 
want our chicks to grow it is all right to crowd into a brood- 
er twice as many as should be in it. A point that we should 
keep in mind, however, is that these chicks will be fully 
twice as large at three weeks old and probably four times 
as large at five weeks old, or by the time we move 
them from the brooder, and that factor we should have in 
mind in gauging the capacity of a brooder. I have come to 
believe that for good results fifty chickens are as many as 
should be put in any brooder; that to increase the number 
beyond that point is to induce crowding, which kills some 
and stunts others, and is extremely unfortunate if quick 
and profitable growth is our aim. If, as not infrequently 
happens, we find we have one hundred and fifty chickens in 
the incubator when we only expected about one hundred, 
and have but two brooders heated up to receive them, no 
harm will result in putting seventy-five chicks in each of 
the two brooders for a couple of days, but another brooder 
must be made ready at once and the one hundred and fifty 
chicks put into the three, which gives reasonably abundant 
room for all of them and they have a good chance to grow. 




PARI 01 I (IM. BROODER t10US£. 



The Foreground Shows Brooders Out of Doors, Each Brooder Enclosed In a Pen 20 Eeet 
Square, Made of 18-Inch letting. 



We raise chickens on our farm for two purposes, first 
for market, second for breeding stock. The chickens for 
market are hatched usually from about Christmas time to 
the middle of March. Those intended for breeding stock 
are hatched from about the middle of March to the middle 
of May. To have chickens out by Christmas time we have 
an incubator started early in December, and at that time 
it is our custom to start one incubator a week, or, possibly, 
four incubators in three weeks, gradually increasing to two 
incubators a week through January and February, and so 
on. For these winter chicks we have a brooder house 130 
feet long by ten feet wide, partitioned into sixteen pens 
eight feet by ten feet, each pen having a door and window 
in front which faces the south. This brooder-house is 
double walled, with a four-inch air space between the inner 
and outer walls (it would be better still if the wall and roof 
spaces were packed with straw or swale hay), and the only 
artificial heal used in this bouse is in the brooders them- 
selves, excepting that in some severely cold weather we put 
a small oil stove in each pen to take the chill out of the 
air, in order that the chicks may be out in the pen. We 
use brooders which are three feet square, heated by an oil 
lamp with a one and one-half inch wick, the air which 
passes into the brooder being heated by passing over a sheet 
iron ceiling to the lamp chamber, and by this method of 
applying the heat indirectly a slight current of warmed 
fresh air is passing into the brooder all the time. Herein, 
we think, is one of the great faults with many brooders, as, 
for example, the hot-water pipe brooders in use in many 
brooder houses. Those hot-water pipes simply heat the air 
already within the hovers, which air is practically confined 
to the hovers by the felt curtain in 
front, which is supposed to enclose the 
warmth within the hovers. It does 
that very well, but it likewise encloses 
the air, which the chicks have to 
breathe over and over again, and in 
that defect I think we find a clue to 
not a little of the mortality and conse- 
ijiieut shrinking of profits on brooder 
house chicks. A current of warmed 
fresh air supplied to the hovers would 
overcome this serious difficulty, and 
would, in my judgment, materially re- 
duce the mortality of brooder chicks. 

The brooders are set in the ground 
to a depth of six or seven inches, 
which serves: a twofold purpose. The 
lamp chamber is enclosed so as to cut 
off currents of air, and the chicks run 
out and in upon a level. For our win- 
ter chickens the broodere are set in 
the middle of the pens ini itlie broader 
houses, or, say, about four feet 
back from the window, and two 



THE CHICK BOOK 



45 



pieces of board are fitted into slots at each front corner, 
extending to the side of the pen, so that the chicks are kept 
In that warm, sunny half of the pen until they are a week 
to ten days old. The first day after being removed from the 
Incubator they are usually kept confined to the brooder, the 

food being put on small platters 

placed in the corners of the brooders 
for them. After they are old enough 
to be let out they are fed and watc?red 
outside, just in front of the brooders. 
These winter chickens will need the 
warmth of the brooders until they are 
seven or eight weeks old, but the 
temperature of the hover is gradually 
reduced from 95 degrees at the begin- 
ning to ?0 or therp-abouts at the end 
of the second week, then to 85, then 
80, then 75, and t!he last week or so 
that the chicks occupy the brooder the 
flame of the lamp is kept as low as it 
can be run, to give just the least 
amount of warmth, 65 to 70 degrees 
being sufficient. 

The chickens that we raise for 
breeding stock are brooded out of 
doors (it bein'g our custom to begin set- 
ting brooders out about April Ist, the 
brooders being set in the ground, just 
as formerly inside the brooder house, 
but as we have much rainy weather 
in April and May, we have "shel- 
ter boards" to serve as protection from the rain, set a little 
way in front of the brooders, and under which the chicks can 
take refuge from storms. The chicks put out of doors are 
kept within the brooder for about one day, then a little pen 
a yard square made of three pieces of board three feet long 
set up to thg front of the brooder gives them a snug little 
enclosure for the few days of babyhood. Next we make 
a pen about twenty feet square of one-inch mesh wire net- 
ting tied to temporary stakes, and the chicks have the range 
of this pen until they are big enough to be weaned from the 
brooder, which, in May and June, is at about six weeks 
old. Then they are moved back to a grassy ridge bordering 
the pasture on one side and mowing field on the other. 
There they are colonized in "A" coops (as we call them) 
for five or six weeks, when it is time to separate the pullets 
from the cockerels, and put the pullets out in the grass 
fields, in roosting coops, in families of about twenty-five 
each, colonized about fifty yards apart. The cockerels In- 
tended to be raised for breeding are confined in pens about 
50x100 feet, while the cockerels intended for market are 
taken back to the pens in the brooder house, which have 
small yards 10x20 outside, and there they are fed and grown 
for market. 

The coops for these chickens play a not unimportant 
part in chicken raising, and a brief description of them may 
be interesting. The "A" coops are three feet six inches by 
two feet three inches on the ground and two feet high at 
the apex of the roof. They are built throughout of half-inch 
tongued and grooved pine and well painted. The front is 
all slats, as shown in the illustration, with a slatted gate 
sliding in grooves to close the front. We originally built 
"A" coops to slope down to the ground, but found it an im- 
provement to have a square base four inches high, with the 
corners turned to an angle, to prevent the chicks from 
crowding back under the eaves and smothering one or two 
at a time. We find it a most decided advantage to have 



these well built coops always at hand, and as we have coops 
now in use which were built ten years ago, and are as good 
to-day as when made, the economy of well made coops will 
be apparent. When we say that the tongues and grooves of 
the roof pieces are painted before they are put together, the 




BROODERS AS VS£D OUT OF DOORS. 
The One In Foreground has a Very Small Pen for Baby Chicks. 

reader will realize that they are thoroughly well built. 
The roosting coop, which is chiefiy intended for raising 
the pullets in, is six feet long, three feet wide, two feet high 
at back and three feet high in front. The roof, ends and 
back side are all of half- inch tongued and grooved pine, the 
front being laths, set a lath width apart, except that a strip 
of board is nailed to each corner for stiffening. Two roosts 
stiffen it. A coop like this will comfortably house twenty- 
five to thirty chickens until they are nearly grown; in fact, 
we sometimes have pullets begin to lay before they are 
brought in from those roosting coops. It is quite light and 
can be easily moved on a wheelbarrow, or moved its length 
and width to fresh ground, or it can be tipped up and drop- 
pings removed, and it is a perfect summer shelter. If they 
are to be used in the spring or fall, when the nights are 
cola, an improvement would be to make a front of half-inch 
boards, hinged at the top edge, so it could swing outward 
and upward and rest upon folding legs hinged at the bottom 
corners, which would become a roof to shelter the birds 
from rains. One disadvantage of this light coop is, that 
it may be easily tipped over by a high wind, especially 
when the chickens are all out of it, as during the day. To 
prevent it from so tipping over a flat stone should be placed 
on each front corner of the roof. 

The gate space in front of the coop gives access to the 
whole inside when the pullets are to be removed. The gate 
is made of laths nailed to two strips one inch square, the 
left hand ends of which are long enough to slip in behind 
the lath front, the right hand side being secured by one or 
two button.s. If one prefers, these gates can be hinged at 
one side or the other and secured by a hook or a button, but 
of two by three scantling, slightly rounded at top, run the 
whole length and are a foot apart, being securely nailed to 
a frame of furring (one by three stuff) nine inches from the 
ground. To this frame we nail the ends, back side and 
front corner boards and then fit in at the top a frame 
of inch-square stuff to nail the roof boards to and 



16 



THE CHICK BOOK 




The A Coop. 



we have found it a conveuience to have them wholly de- 
tachable, and so make them. 

Shelter from rain and sun is of quite as much help as a 
good coop to sleep in. By experimenting in different ways 
we learn that it would pay as well to have "shelter boards" 
always ready, just as are the coops; hence we make them of 
the half-inch, tongued and grooved pine, taking five strips 
three feet long by six inches wide for each shelter board. 
These strips are securely nailed to pieces of inch-square 
spruce at top and bottom, and then the weather side is well 

painted. We make a 
light frame of the 
inch square spruce 
strips and laths to fit 
up to the "A" coops 
when we want to put 
the shelter close to 
the coop, using one 
of the 2V6x3-foot shelter boards, as shown in the illustra- 
tions. As the chicks get a little older we move the frame 
out a little, set athwart the front of coop, and put two 
shelter boards over it side by side, setting it so that it fur- 
nishes shade if the sun is shining, or protects from a driv- 
ing rain, of course adapting it to the direction of the wind. 
When we move the pullets out into the field and into the 
roosting coops we set upon stakes and a strip of furring, a 
shelving roof seven and a half feet long by three feet wide, 
slightly sloping to the south, about eighteen inches high in 
front and a foot high at the back. By these devices we more 
than double the available shelter from rain and sun and cor- 
respondingly increase the comfort of the growing chicks. 
Obviously, if they have to be crowded into their narrow 
sleeping quarters on a long rainy day or to get away from 
the hot sun, they are not making good growth, and by so 
simple an expedient as we have here outlined we more than 
doable the protection and by so much promote their com- 
fort. 

Foods and Feeding. 

As we stated at the beginning of this article, we raise 
two kinds of chicks, chickens lor market and chickens for 
breeding stock. The food for the first month or six weeks 
is practically the same for each class, but at the end of six 
weeks we begin to feed the market chicks a richer and more 
fattening food, they 




of cooirs^ being kept 
separate from the 
chicks intended for 
breeding stock. 

Feed often and 
feed but a little at a 
time is the rule for KoosUng Coopn for Large Chicks. 

young chicks. We feed five times a day until they are about 
six weeks old. It is important that no food be left standing 
for the chicks to trample dirt into or to get sour in the sun; 
if they have not eaten it all in twenty minutes to half an 
hour, remove it. Nothing causes more bowel looseness and 
dysentery than sour food. Our chief foods for the first six 
weeks are coarsest oatmeal, slightly moistened with sweet 
milk if we have it; if not, with water, and waste bread 
ground to rather coarse crumbs in a bone mill. This also 
is moistened with sweet milk or water,— slightly moistened 
so that it is still crumbly and not "pasty." The oatmeal 
is just such as i.^ cooked for a breakfast dish on our table;' 
in other words, it is oat meats ground very coarse. This we 
buy of wholesale grocers, by the barrel, at a cost of about 
two cents a pound. The waste bread is the broken pieces, 
pan-loaves, rolls, corn cakes, etc., from hotels and restau- 
rants and costs about a cent and a half a pound. This 



^^ 




As a Shflter from Sun. 



bread we buy by the hundred weight and spread on the barn 
loft to dry; when thoroughly dry it is ground into coarse 
crumbs in a bone mill. The first food early in the morning 
is the bread crumbs, slightly moistened with sweet milk or 
water; the second, about nine o'clock in the morning, is 
oatme-al. slightly moistened a little before noon, bread 
crumbs again, about half past two oatmeal again and about 
5 o'clock a little cracked wheat or finely cracked corn. Twice 
a week a little lean meat is boiled, chopped fine and mix»d 
with one of the bread or oatmeal feeds, or the infertile eggs 
(clear eggs) from the incubators are boiled hard, chopped 
fine, shells and all, and jnixed with the bread crumbs or 
oatmeal. 

It is very important that the chicks have grit to grind 
their food, and as baby chicks are hardly to be trusted to 
supply themselves with good grit, we sprinkle a pinch of 
fine grit (or coarse sand) upon the small tin plates once a 
day just before feeding, or, if preferred, it can be mixed 
into the food. Grit in the gizzard to grind the food is a 
most important factor in preventing indigestion and loose- 
ness of the bowels. 

Green food is another important aid to good health. If 
the chicks are cooped upon fresh grass the problem is easily 
solved, because they will help themselves. Obviously, the 
January, February and March hatched chicks cannot have 
access to fresh 
grass, neither can 
the larger chickens 
shut up to be fatted 
for market, hence a 
supply of green food 
must be provided. 
Cabbages, onions, 
lettuce and onion 

tops all make a good green food supply, and the same can 
he said of weeds from the garden, which are easily obtained. 
It is a comparatively easy matter to supply the green food 
if one has the will. 

We are well aware that many readers cannot get waste 
bread from hotels and restaurants, and to such we recommend 
the making of "johnny cake" of mixed meals, baked very 
thoroughly, and we will give also the rule for "Excelsior 
Meal bread" as recommended by Mr. I. K. Felch. "Grind 
into a fine meal in the following proportions: Twenty 
pounds corn, fifteen pounds oats, ten pounds barley, ten 
pounds wheat bran. Make the cakes by taking one quart 
sour milk (or buttermilk), adding a little salt and molasses, 
one quart of water in which a large heaping teaspoonful of 
saleratus has been dissolved. Then thicken all to a little 
stiffer batter than your wife makes for corn cakes. Bake in 
shallow pens until thoroughly cooked. We believe a 'well- 
appointed kitchen and brick oven pays, for in the baking 
of this food enough for a week can be cooked at a time." 
It is very certain that a cooked food of this kind is a decided 
help to good growth in chicks, and as we on our farm want 
a good growth, we study to promote it by feeding a good 
food. 

Not a few farmers and poultrymen think that oatmeal 
as a food for chicks is a luxury. Wright's "Practical Poul- 
try Keeper" says: "With regard to feeding, if the question 
be asked what is the best food for chickens, irrespective of 
price, the answer must decidedly be, 'oatmeal.' After the 
first meal of bread crumbs and egg no food is equal to it, 
if coarsely ground, and only moistened so much as to remain 
crumbly. The prie-? of oatmeal is, however, so high as to 
forbid its use in general except for valuable birds; but we 
should still advise it for the first week in order to lay a 
good foundation." 



THE CHICK BOOK 



47 



We are obliged to differ from Mr. Wright as to oatmeal 
being an expensive food for chicks. It may look expensive 
to pay $4 a barrel (two cents a pound) for oatmeal for chick- 
en food; but it goes so far we have found it a decidedly 
economical food. We use perhaps fifty dollars' worth of oat- 
meal a year and it makes about one-flfth of our chicks' food 
ration for the first three months of their life. Considei-ed 
simply as a food ration it is economical, but when we con- 
sider that is a good foundation for the future usefulness of 
the birds, and that a good foundation for chicks means eggs 
in the basket next fall and winter — then we realize that 
oatmeal is a cheap food jn the best sense of the term. 

By the time the chicks are six to eight weeks old the 
principal dangers of chickenhood are past and the two dif- 
ferent methods of feeding are inaugurated. The chickens 
intended to be raised for breeding stock are put out in the 
fields, where they have a grass run and a free range. The 
chickens intended for market are kept confined in the 
brooder house pens and yards and fed a slightly different 
grade of food. The principal difference is in increasing the 
amount of cracked corn and corn meal of the market chicks 
and cutting off the oatmeal, of course the green food being 
plentifully supplied and grit being constantly accessible. 
The chicks in the field intended for laying and breeding 
stock must have a liberal supply of nourishing, strengthen- 
ing food, which will build up a strong, healthy and vigorous 
body, with stores of strength to lean upon when maturity 
shall come. The breakfast is bread crumbs, continued 
usually until the chicks are about ten weeks old, 
when they are graduated into a morning mash ol 
cooked vegetables (which makes about one-third of 
the whole) and mixed meals, being equal parts by 
weight of corn meal, ground oats, fancy middlings and 
bran (or shorts) ; this is salted about as it would be if it 
were food for the table. The vegetables are potatoes, beets, 
turnips, carrots, onions — anything in the vegetable line, 
thoroughly cooked and mashed fine, the mixed meals being 
stirred in until it is stiff as a strong arm can make it. The 
breakfast in the morning is this mash; in the middle of the 
forenoon a light feed of coarse oatmeal, moistened; just 
after dinner a light feed of cracked wheat and about five 
o'clock whole wheat or cracked corn, one one day the other 
the next. About twice a week we have fresh meat (butch- 
er's trimmings), which are boiled and then chopped fine. 
This we mix with the oatmeal (about half and half) for the 
second feeding. We have also a bone cutter and twice a 
week the chicks have a good time wrestling and trampling 
over each other in their eagerness to get the fresh cut bone. 
Cut bone, if perfectly fresh and sweet, is one of the best 

animal food sup- 
plies that we have, 
but, if this is not 
a V a i 1 a ble, meat 
jneal or beef scraps 
should be mixed in- 
to the morning 
mash, about one- 
quarter ounce per bird per day, for young birds, increasing 
to about one-half ounce per day as they approach maturity. 
We vary the food ration continually within the range 
here described. For instance, one day the food will be mash, 
bread crumbs, cracked wheat and cracked corn; next day, 
mash, oatmeal and chopped meat, cracked corn, and whole 
wheat; the next day bread crumbs, cut bone, oatmeal, cracked 




As a Shelter from Rain. 




A Shed-Roof Shelter. 

sometimes going around between 



corn and so on. The intention is to feed only what the chicks 
will eat up clean and quickly; but we break the rule so far as 
the last feed is concerned and the boy goes around a second 
time twenty or thirty minutes after feeding, and if the food 
is all eaten up clean three or four handfuls more are put 
down so that all shall have a chance to "fill up" for the 
night. If a handful is left uneaten it quickly disappears 
in the morning, and as it is always dry grain it does not 
sour and there is no danger from leaving it out. 

Wa have said 
nothing about fresh 
water because it 
goes without saying 
that fres'h, clean 
water must always 
me accessible to the 
chickens. We water 
them three times a 
day, morning, noon 
and late afternoon; 
whiles if it is hot weather and the chickens are 
likely to drink a good deal. The water dishes are care- 
fully rinsed once a day and water which is fresh and cool 
is always accessible to them. Grit to grind the food is an- 
other necessity, a pan of which is placed near each food 
trough out in the field, or a small box of it in each pen in 
the brooder house. We have personally noted that chickens 
when let out of the coops in the morning would go to the 
grit dish for two or three bits of grit before going to join 
their mates at the food trough. 

Thus far we have been writing about chicks raised for 
breeding stock. When the market chicks are six to eight 
weeks old we cut off the oatmeal (or ground oats) from the 
food ration, double the quantity of corn meal and cracked 
corn, feeding also on wheat or barley, feeding them occa- 
sionally, say once a week, a feed of whole oats for a change. 
The corn meal and meat meal are gradually increased and a 
week to ten days before the chickens are to be marketed a 
very little gluten meal is added to the ration and the meat 
meal practically doubled in quantity until we are feeding a 
full ounce per bird per day. With this decidedly fattening 
ration the birds should go to market in first-class condition 
and bring top prices for market chicks. 

The chicks intended for breeding stock have free range 
and can roam over the fields at will in search of insects, 
worms, etc., the exercise of ranging promoting growth and 
good health. We study to promote the comfort and well 
being of the chicks, believing that it pays to do so. The 
coops are kept scrupulously clean by being moved to fresh 
ground every other day, and every reasonable pains is taken 
to insure steady, continuous growth. It is the full egg bas- 
ket in November, December and .January, when eggs bring 
top prices and pay the creamy profits, that is being planned 
for and worked for in this good care and good feeding, and 
we have abundantly proved on our farm that this good care 
and good feeding pay richly. We cannot get a valuable 
thing for nothing; the good things in this world come by 
working for them, and the good profits that are to be gained 
in poultry raising have got to be worked for. With us the 
problem is early hatched pullets kept growing so that they 
shall come to laying maturity in October, and then kept lay- 
ing. Our pullets are kept growing, and after they reach 
laying maturity are kept laying, by good care and good food. 

A. F. HUNTER. 



JUNE HATCHED CHICKS. 



Mr. Sewell Recalls Prominent Winners That Were Hatched In June— To Produce Them One Must Study Nature's 

Whims and Prepare Alike for Rain and Shine. 



By r. L. Sewell. 



'E BELIEVE chicks come into the world with the 
best conditions for rapid growth at the time of 
fruit blossoming. That is about the middle of 
May in this latitude — but in seasons so backward 
as some are, June is not a bad month in which to start. 

Rearers of pheasants look to this month as their best 
season for batching — when the season is well settled and 
rains are not too frequent. The haying season is the time 
when the quail hatches her first broods. The June hatched 
Mediterraneans, Games, Hamburgs and some others will re- 
quire no special urging to bring them into fine form and 
feather for the early winter shows. Our ambitious fanciers 




^■S't'r 



June Matched and Vigorous. 

who are not content with any but the very large breeds, 
weighing eight to twelve pounds, must remember that they 
are handling races developed through artful selection and 
most advantageous environments. 

The fancier who sets out to win in the present day com- 
petition at our best shows and reap the high prices that are 
paid for the prize-takers will keep in mind that every day 
must bring gain in growth to his June chicks; he will see 
that they have everything that adds to their comfort and 
are well protected from all that retards their growth or 
spoils their general condition and plumage. 

No doubt at the winter show you have stood admiring 
some splendid specimen in the American classes or even of 
the grand Asiatics and a proud owner assured you that the 
bird was "only a baby — a June hatched chick," and you 
wondered how he produced such freshness of feather — such 
perfection of bloom; and a question brought the reply, "Why 
ho has not had time to lose it — he just seemed to grow every 
day from the time he was hatched until now." Therein 
lies success— not an hour's neglect when natural, healthful 



development could lag. Many of the finest show birds we 
have seen at the great eastern shows of New York and Bos- 
ton we have known to be June hatched. It is an old saying 
among the fanciers that pullets appear at their finest just 
the few weeks prior to laying their first egg, and if the show- 
birds can just reach maturity on show week they will ap- 
pear in the pink of condition — with vigor at its height and 
the plumage at its finest. 

We mentioned the settled condition of June weather as 
being favorable; however, a protracted dry season may be 
far from beneficial, when a liberal supply of green and insect 
food cannot be obtained. No birds can grow well without 
them. Between a season of continued droughts and exces- 
sive rains we would choose a season where the birds had 
proper protection — dry coops and covered runs attached for 
wet days. Between showers the birds will find abundance 
of green food, insects and worms, while in the season of 
drought they are apt to lack for both these. It is always 
a safe provision to have a patch of young clover or some 
good crop for green food. We know of nothing better than 
a small field of white clover that can be watered and kept 
green (a part to be cut for winter use) for the birds to for- 
age over. During continued dry weather when the surface 
of the soil seems to present no insects or worms a strip can 
be occasionally plowed up, giving a fair supply of worms 
and bugs. A pile of small chips and partially decayed leaves 
will afford excellent scratching, especially if partially in the 
shade. Insects are constantly gathering in such a place. 
The perfectly clean swept poultry yard may look to some 
eyes most tidy, but to the chicks that hanker for a hunting 
ground where they may stir up bugs or worms such a place 
without its rubbish pile is a mockery to their nature. A 
few wagonloads of old rotten wood and leaves from the 
forest present a constant picnic to the chicks in summer. 
Place the pile partly in the shade. The frequent visits to 
it by the chicks will prove their appreciation for it. 

The exei'cise taken in scratching for the insects will in- 
duce thrift and add to the strength of the birds. Have you 
not frequently received among your purchases, birds seem- 
ingly lacking in all thrifty habits actually spoiled in their 
bringing up? Some breeds, notably those nearest the orig- 
inal type of the wild Bankiva fowl, hunt all day, turning 
over the leaves as they search about, while others seem to 
fare for nothing beyond the dooryard and the granary. This 
disposition and habit can be largely due to the methods em- 
ployed in feeding while the chicks are growing up. A cer- 
tain amount of range, encouraging the chicks to hunt and 
.scratch for at least a part of their food, will add value to 
the birds in health and thrifty foraging habits. These last 
remarks apply especially to chicks leaving the brooder or 
hen in a dry season when the natural food may be scarce 
and the temptation strongest to depend entirely upon the 
feed bucket. 

We learned through sad experience not to allow chicks 



THE CHICK BOOK 



49 



to nestle or roost upon the bare ground. There should 
always be a board platform raised a few inches above the 
earth, keeping the birds dry under foot at all seasons. 

We note that small, movable coops for weaned chicks 
are rapidly growing popular, a number of very practical 
patterns now being made to take down and ship in a small 
space. We know that the value of these movable coops can 
hardly be estimated. With such well planned and conven- 
ient coops the chicks can be constantly on clean, fres.i 
ground and with the movable covered runs attached the 
long rainy days are not nearly as much to be dreaded by 
those ambitious to see their birds growing every day. Much 
of the failure to succeed with young turkeys and pheasants 



during the last two seasons is due to the lack of this kind 
of protection. The fine young chicks can be weathered 
through many a wet week to our entire satisfaction and the 
coops made to pay their way many times over in the saving 
they will bo to young stock, among which we look for our 
ne.xt winter's prize winners. 

With vigorous parent stock we always expect to pro- 
duce rapid growing chicks, and with constant attention to 
securing for them the best foods and giving them protection 
from vermin and ill weather we look for many of the most 
perfectly conditioned show birds to come out of these June 
hatched broods. 

FRANKLANE L. SEWELL. 



JUNE HATCHED BIRDS FOR WINTER SHOWS, 



The Season Naturally Favorable to Growth— Free Range tor Hens with Chicks— A Shaded Location tor Coops and 

Brooders — Green Food and Clean Water Important. 



By H. A. Nourse. 



JUNE is a month of growth if most is made of the favor- 
able conditions usually prevailing and chicks hatched 
this month will often make bone and muscle faster 
than those of earlier hatches. This is especially true 
when the owner is without facilities for properly housing 
the chicks during the chilling storms which April and May 
some times furnish. In June not much protection is neces- 
sary. The brood may be out in the fields where the requisi- 
tion of fresh air, exercise and green grass will build strong 
bodies, able to take care of all the food that the chicks can 
eat. No conditions are more favorable tor securing good 
growth at the least expense for labor and food. 

Some of the winners at the largest shows in recent 
years were hatched in June. In the Plymouth Rock, Wyan- 
dotte and Leghorn classes June hatched birds are frequently 
awarded the ribbons and a successful breeder of Buff Coch- 
ins, asserts that some of the best January show pullets he 
ever raised were hatched in June and July. 

Chicks With Hens. 

The man who broods his chicks with hens, and has a 
range of fair area, can make the most of his chances by con- 
fining the hen to the coop only at night and in bad weather. 
At other times she should be out with the chicks teaching 
them to find the natural food intended for them and protect- 
ing them from their natural enemies. Such a course not 
only strengthens tiiem physically, but makes them self- 
reliant and able to take good care of themselves when they 
are deserted by the hen. This freedom also allows the hen 
to dust frequently in the cool, moist earth, keeping her 
feathers clean and assisting to rid herself of lice, which in- 
crease faster in warm weather and must be kept down. To 
this end, hen and chicks must be treated for body lice and 
head lice. If the hen is confined most of the time, a roomy 
coop and good ventilation should be furnished. In warm 
weather coops should be located in the shade, or if this is 
impossible, they should face toward the north. If the hen 
is free she will find a cool place, but if confined, she is likely 
to suffer from the heat and the chicks remaining near her 
while young, will suffer also and fail to prosper. 



Brooder Chicks. 

Chicks in brooders are supposed to be, and should be, 
free from lice. No chick that has had a chance to get a 
louse on it should be put in the brooders or in a brooder 
house and, if that is looked to, brooder chicks have an ad- 
vantage over chicks with hens. Most of the June brooder 
chicks are housed in outdoor brooders and the shade ques- 
tion becomes one of major importance. A brooder placed 
in the sun, however well it may be ventilated, will reach a 
high temperature during a hot day and cool rapidly at night, 
making it necessary to extinguish the lamp during the day 
and start it again at nightfall. This does no particular 
harm if the chicks are old enough to take care of themselves 
and can find shade during the day; but it is unfortunate for 
little chicks as the temperature will vary widely. 

Under a group of shade trees or in an orchard is the best 
place for a brooder at this season, the shade tempering the 
heat of the sun. If the cover of the brooder is raised, there 
will be no difficulty in keeping the heat under the hover 
within bounds. To place a brooder where it will be exposed 
to the midday sun and confine the chicks in a small yard 
also without protection is nothing less than cruelty, and 
good results are impossible. 

Feeding and Watering. 

The feeding of June chicks need not be different from 
chat advocated for those hatched earlier. The green 
food should be young, tender blades of grass gathered by 
the chicks themselves; if the young ones must beconfined 
to yards, fine lawn clippings or the delicate leaves and stalks 
of new clover, rape ar alfalfa should be handed out liberally 
every morning while they are still fresh from the night's 
dew. Cool, fresh water constantly accessible is a decided 
advantage and far more difficult to provide than in cool 
weather. The supply should be renewed with fresh water 
three times each day and the fountains cleaned and disin- 
fected frequently, for germs multiply rapidly in tepid water. 
The need of being thus careful is obvious when we under- 
stand that the germs of diseases affecting the lungs, throat 
and head find drinking water a ready means for distribution. 
Prevention is not difficult and is better than cure. Take 
care of the June chicks and they will take care of you. 

H. A. NOURSR. 



JUNE HATCHED CHICKS. 



Leading Breeders Give Their Experiences With Late Hatched Chicks— Evidence That With Care and Correct Treat- 
ment Chicks Hatched In June Make Winners In December, January and February. 



[The following short articles from experienced and well known breeders will encouragfe those who. from any cause, do not have as many early chicks 
on hand as they need and instruct beginners in the care und feeding of late hatched chicks. By studying the methods advocated bj' the best author- 
ities the reader can readily determine how to make the most of the natural advantages within his reach and how to avoid the mistakes that spoil the 
profits. Opinion among these experienced breeders is practically unanimous that food, water, shade and lice are the main considerations, and that 
with the exercise of care in raising the birds many a June hatched chick will win fame for its owner at next winter's shows.] 



RAISED UNDER SUITABLE CONDITIONS, JUNE 

HATCHED CHICKS ARE UP TO WEIGHT FOB 

WINTER SHOWS. 

'HILE IT is true that early chicks do better, still a 
great many good birds can be, with proper care 
and feeding, raised from chicks hatched in that 
month. We have had June Barred Rock pullets 
laying in January and February, and continue laying until 
late in the spring before becoming broody. The cull cockerels 
can be sold early in the fall, when they make excellent fries. 
The others should be separated, cockerels from pullets, piit 
in light, dry, warm coops, and kept for the spring trade. 
They must be made to scratch for their grain, and positively 
must have grit, green food and a dust box to insure steady 
growth through the winter. 

One of the greatest difficulties in raising June chicks is 
the extreme heat. Shade and plenty of fresh water are in- 
dispensable. An orchard or a berry patch makes excellent 
shade, or rape seed sown early in May makes good shade, 
and green food, too. Sometimes on the lawn we drive stakes 
in the ground forming a square, and fasten burlap to them, 
making a shelter about two feet high, which breaks the 
sun, but allows a free circulation of air. 

Our chicks are free to roam at all times. We do not 
think the wet grass, early in the morning, hurts them in 
the least, but rather believe it toughens them and speeds 
their growth. 

We feed rolled oats and whole wheat; it makes bone 
and muscle and they thrive on it. They get but little corn. 
Feed June chicks sparingly during the hot months of July 
and August, keep them a little hungry and they will forage 
better, eat more grass and green stuff, find more bugs and 
worms, and you won't know what a sick chick looks like. 
You can force their growth more when the cool nights of 
September come by giving them all they want to eat for 
supper of a good mash food, composed principally of bran, 
shorts and chop feed, with a handful of salt occasionally. 

We use open front, shed roof coops, without any floor, 
about four by six feet on the ground, which can be easily 
moved, thus keeping them clean and wholesome. If the 
chicks want to roost on the ridge, or on a brush heap, or in 
the trees, we let them; it makes them tough. Keep them as 
near natural conditions as possible and a great many June 
chicks will be up to weight for the winter shows and for 
winter layers. W. S. PEASE. 



CARE, CLEANLINESS AND VARIED FOODS CAUSE 
CHICKS HATCHED IN JUNE TO WIN IN DE- 
CEMBER, JANUARY AND FEBRUARY. 

I will give you my views on the raising of June hatched 
chicks for exhibition purposes. 

Chicks hatched before June 15th can be virtually ma- 
tured by January 1st following, by close attention to feed- 
ing, wide range and sanitary, well ventilated cooping. Food 
for first two weeks should be given every two or three hours, 
dry mixed cracked gi-ains, hulled oats, wheat, millet and 
corn. Fresh milk twice daily and pure water and grit at 
all times. After the second week and up to four weeks of 
age a little chopped fresh meat daily. When one month old 
allow free range, shaded. Provide a dusting box made up 
of equal parts of fine lake sand and road dust, with a little 
powdered sulphur added, and place where it will keep dry. 
This will keep them free from lice. 

Do not crowd the roosting coop. Young chickens must 
have plenty of room in order to thrive. 

Separate the cockerels from pullets at fourteen weeks. 

Have your winter quarters ready by October 25th. After 
this time provide fresh ground bone and vegetables daily in 
addition to the oats, wheat and corn. Clean, well ventilated 
houses are particularly essential. I remove the droppings 
daily. 

Chicks raised in this manner will be ready for the De- 
cember shows and will be of standard weight. The first 
prize White Wyandotte Cleveland cockerel, December, 1902, 
was hatched June 10th. A full brother hatched the same 
date headed the second prize pen at Pittsburg show in Feb- 
ruary, 1903. At the Painesville show in January, 1904, the 
pullets I exhibited in the first prize pen were hatched the 
first week in June, and all were standard weight or over. 

So do not be discouraged over the late spring and de- 
layed hatches, but redouble your care and you will be up 
in front when the winter show season arrives. 

DR. WM. H. HUMISTON. 



JUNE SAID TO BE "ONE OF THE BEST" MONTHS 
FOR HATCHING WINTER SHOW BIRDS. 

As a matter of fact I have always considered June a 
splendid month to get out "Ringlet" Barred Rocks and have 
hatched a great many winning show birds as late as July. 
Every bird in one of my New York first prize exhibition pens 
was hatched in July. Some of my first prize pullets at New 
York were hatched August 10th. 

Birds hatched in June are ready to show in January and 



THE CHICK BOOK 



51 



July chicks, if well caret! for, are ready to show in January 
and February. I have had July pullets lay iu January. 
Many breeders calculate to get out their January and B^b- 
ruary show birds in June so the birds will be "on edge" or 
in the pink ot condition at show time iind not be past their 
beauty period. 

I care tor June hatched chickens just the same as those 
of any of the spring and summer months. My chicks have 
all the shade they want as well as sunshine, and sunshine is 
as necessary as shade. 

While I do not say June is the best month to hatch in, I 
know that it is one of the best and I get out several hun- 
dred "Ringlets" every June and have done so for years. 

I feed chicks the same in June and July as in April and 
May. E. B. THOMPSON. 



The greatest abjections to raising late hatched chicks are 
lack of shade, improper attention to drinking vessels and 
crowding one hundred chicks where only fifty should be 
quartered, but these objections are easily overcome, and 
v.'here they are, June hatched chicks are profitable. 

C. BRICAULT, M. D. V. 



JUNE HATCHED CHICKS REACH MATURITY 

EARLY ENOUGH TO LAY WHEN PRICES OF 

EGGS ARE AT THEIR HEIGHT. 

Chicks hatched in June can be made profitable both as 

layers and show birds, if raised under conditions to promote 

a healthy growth. Their treatment 

differs but little from that which is 

given the early ones; the difference 

can be summed up in a few words, 

namely, plenty of shade and cool, 

dean water to drink at all times. 

T'p to lour years ago T shared in 

the belief tnat late hatched chicks 

were undesirable, but after giving the 

matter a thorough test 1 find that 

White Wyandotte pullets hatched in 

June reach laying maturity in less 

time than the early hatched ones, and 

many experienced breeders are of the 

same opinion. 

Our late chicks are fed the same as 

the early ones up to a certain age, 

then they are fed differently. A pre 

pared chick food is fed until they are 

six weeks old, three times a day 

the first week and five times a day up to the seventh 

week. They are then changed gradually to hulled oats, 
whole wheal and cracked corn. This is fed four times a day. 
Several boxes containing ground oats, bran and beef scraps 

(equal parts) are placed at different points on the range 
and trom these they help themselves at will. It is astonish- 
ing the amount of this mixture they will consume between 
their regular meals. Being housed on a good grass range, 
they have all the green food needed. About the middle of 
September I begin to feed a mash to the pullets, and this is 
where the difference in feeding occurs, the late pullets being 
fed this mash at an earlier age than the early ones, for at 
this season all are fed alike. The mash is composed as fol- 
lows: Ground oats 50 per cent, bran 25 per cent, middlings 
15 per cent, corn meal 10 per cent. It is mixed with boiling 
water at noon and left to cook in its own heat until 5 
p. m., when it is cool enough to feed. It is fed in several 
long troughs so that every pullet has its share. No crowd- 
ing at this meal is allowed, and the whole grain is scattered 
so well that crowding is not necessary; all get their share. 

Pullets hatched June 20th and treated as above began 
laying December 27th and were persistent layers for months. 
If I were forced to delay hatching till June I would follow 
the above method and have eggs for market when prices 
are highest. 

Many of our best layers were hatched in June, and I 
sha'l never again hesitate to hatch chicks in that month. 



SATISFACTORY EGG PRODUCTION BY JUNE 
HATCHED CHICKS. 

Year after year we generally have more or less chicks 
oome off in June. This year, owing to the long and severe 
winter and backward spring, we expect to hatch between 
200 and 300 during that month. The main object with us is 
eggs. We want pullets to lay early and lay lots of eggs. 
We have, in most cases, found June hatched chicks profit- 
able; the pullets especially. June hatched White Wyandotte 
pullets have begun to lay with us in October or November, 
jusfc before cold weather, and have continued to lay all 
winter. 

We plac^ the brooders, or hens with chicks, in a cool, 
sh.idy place under the trees and arrange the yards in such 





A^i»^ 






^^^ ~WM ' B i M^*mM 


^^^9H 




f'Sf^.-TT^^m 



Where Chicks Crow Rapidn un i/ie Htam at Mrs. li. i\. nantl. 



a fashion that the chicks may have a little sunshine. 

Our method of feeding late hatched chicks does not vary 
very much from that pursued in feeding earlier chicks; the 
only difference being that we increase the beef scraps a 
little after the chicks are four or five weeks old. 

We have tried in the past the dry feeding method for 
small chicks, but have given it up for the mash and dry 
grain combination. We can in this way get our birds to 
mature quicker and lay earlier, without affecting their size. 
We are using this spring one of the widely advertised chick 
foods, twice a day, with cracked wheat, hominy grits, pin 
head oatmeal and a little cracked corn. These small grains 
a.re fed dry three times a day for the first week and twice 
a day for the second and third weeks. After that time we 
begin to feed a little hulled oats and whole wheat and a little 
cracked corn once a day. W^e have lost less chicks this year, 
up (0 the present time, than we ever did before when dry 
food was used exclusively. 

We are careful in raising late hatched chicks to give the 
little fellows plenty of shade, good pure drinking water and 
to keep them free from lice. Our chicks when old enough 
to leave the brooders have the range of a meadow and a piece 
of woodland, where they have plenty of shade. We use 
colony houses 6x8 with shed roof, and four feet high at the 
back and seven feet in front, with door and window, which 
are replaced through the summer by screens. 

HAITZ POULTRY FARM. 



THE CHICK BOOK 



LICE, FOUL BUNS AND WANT OF FRESH AIR THE 

JMAIN OBSTACLES TO SUCCESS WITH JUNE 

HATCHED CHICKS. 

Some people claim that June hatched chicks do not grow 
as quickly as thoss which are hatched earlier. The reason, 
perhaps, is that the millions of lice and mites that have been 
incubating and brooding through rain and shine of the early 
spring are not kepi in check when the warm weather comes. 
For this pest the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station rec- 
ommends coal oil emulsion. 

The next disadvantage is a swarm of chicks have pre- 
ceded the late hatch, the runs are befouled by the earlier 
chicks and the old fowls, and the little fellows suffer for 
pure air day and night and are tramped on and crowded to 
death. Besides this the weeds, berries, etc., claim our atten- 
tion and the late chicks are not as well cared for as the 
earlier ones. 

Nature teaches and my experience proves that May and 
June are the months to hatch birds, and with the same 
care they should do as well or better than the earlier birds, 
for insect food is more plentiful and sunshine more abund- 
ant; but now we must provide shelter from the hot sun in- 
stead of from cold winds; also good, roomy, well ventilated 
coops or brooders. 

If brooders are used they must be constructed so that 
the chicks can have free access to heat or fresh air as they 
prefer. Both coops and brooders must have at least one 
side made of screen wire netting; a few holes in a box is 
not sufficient ventilation; a damp, perspiring chick 
turned out in the cold morning dew to chill might as well 
have its head snipped off at once. A chick can eat almost 
anything any time of year, if it Is not over-heated or chilled, 
but a chilled chick will have bowel trouble and no brand of 
food will cure it. MRS. S. P. ROGERS. 



MUCH DEPENDS UPON THE CARE LATE HATCHED 
CHICKS RECEIVE. 

I have had good results with last of May and early June 
hatches. For late December and January shows there is no 
better time to get them out than May 25th to June 15th. 
as they mature after the weather becomes cool, and 
the plumage is bright at show time. My winners, 
both cockerels and pullets, at the late Peoria, 111., show 
and at late Illinois State Show, all up to weight, were 
haitched from May 25th to June luth. This is ample evi- 
dence that June hatched chicks will make show birds. 




Unless one is well fixed to handle these late ones I 
wouldn't advise getting out too many of them, but a few 
will prove what I am stating is true. The great trouble in 
handling late hatched chicks by many is they lose interest 
in them. Early in the spring the hen fever is up to 95 or 
higher, but it gradually cools off as the weather gets warm 
and the chicks are neglected. 

I would brood at that time with a hen. Place coop, 
which should be of sufficient size to give ample room and 
fresh air through the hot nights, in a dense shade — a large 
apple tree or north side of a building is the best for June 
hatched chicks. Feed mostly dry food at this time. Pro- 
vide fresh water often, and after chicks are a few days old 
give the hen her liberty, and all the chicks have to do is to 
grow. 

I have for several years raised a few late hatched birds, 
even as late as July 1st. This season I will be compelled to 
get out even more than usual owing to the lateness of the 
spring and the immense early egg trade. 

To those who are prejudiced against late hatched chicks 
I will say that a sitting or two of eggs at this time will 
prove that what I am saying is true, provided you do your 
parr, in caring for them. O. L. KING. 



ADVOCATING JUNE HATCHED CHICKS OF THE 
LIGHTER BREEDS FOR WINTER SHOWS. 

I have hatched many S. C. White Leghorns in. June with 
great success for both market and exhibition. I have raised 
many winners of both sexes which were hatched in June and 
won in December. They were fully developed and weighed 
from four to six pounds, and as all Leghorn breeders know, 
that is good weight for them. 

I always feed young chickens for the first five weeks 
with prepared chick food. Have used this for several years. 
I have not known of a single case of bowel trouble in feed- 
ing this food. After the chicks are four or five weeks old I 
commence feeding them cracked corn and wheat; keep fresh 
water bel'ore them all the while, also oyster shell and grit. 

One must have a good shelter for them and protect them 
from drafts which give them colds. Do not crowd and over- 
heat them; this will affect their health. Give them just 
enough food so they will eat it up clean and not have any 
left. Keep the vermin down. I use lice killing powder on 
the chickens, and kerosene on the roosts. 

It never pays to half raise a chicken or any kind of an 
animal. 

If I were starting in the poultry business and were de- 
layed in getting eggs on account of the cold spring, that 
would not prevent me getting eggs in June. I would get 
some eggs from some reliable breeder who has the breed I 
like best. Everybody has his favorite breed. After the 
chickens were hatched I would do my utmost to feed them 
right and keep them free from lice and colds. When fall 
arrived I would have a fine lot of choice chickens, especially 
if of the lighter breeds, which will mature in four and one- 
half to six months and commence laying in five or six 
months and lay about two hundred eggs per year on about 
one-half the feed that it takes for a larger breed. 

R. C. COLLIN. 



A Croup of June Chicks Ready to be Fatted for Marltet. 



HAS NO EXTRA TROUBLE RAISING JUNE CHICKS. 

I will give you my method in hatching and raising June 
chickens. I give the hen a nest free from chiggers. lice, 
and mites, and set her where no laying hens can bother her. 



THE CHICK BOOK 



53 



I keep the eggs and nest clean. When the chicks are hatch- 
ing I take the shells out of the nest to give the chicks room. 
I leave the chicks in the nest twenty-four hours to give them 
strength. 

Chicks don't need food for thirty-si.\ hours after hatch- 
ing. The first food is oatmeal, dry, miyed with fine grit or 
prepared chick feed. Give them cold water and very little 
at a time when young. Take the hen and chicks off the 
nest and put them under a good shade tree. Make a coop 
for hen and chicks two feet long, eighteen inches wide, 
twelve inches high. Don't nail the top — leave it loose so you 
can look in at the chicks from the top. Make a slat coop 
four feet long, two and one-half feet wide and fifteen inches 
high to put in front of the coop. Let the hen and chicks 
out in the slat coop so the chicks can run around. Keep the 
hen in the siat coop for a week, until the chicks get strong 
and learn the hen's cluck. Let the hen and chicks run out 
over the farm to hunt bugs and other insects. The exercise 
makes them strong, and gives plenty of muscle. Feed June 
chicks by themselves. I don't have any more trouble rais- 
ing .June chicks than I do raising April hatched chicks. 

JOHN W. TANNER. 



difference in caring for late hatched chicks and early hatched 
ones is in keeping one cool and the others warm. 

U. R. FISHEL. 



PUT THE LATE HATCHED CHICKS IN A CORN- 
FIELD AND RAISE THE BEST COLORED BIRDS 
OF THE SEASON. 

I have often wondered why there were not more eggs 
Bet and chicks hatched during the month of June. To be 
sure it takes some precaution to successfully rear chicks 
hatched in the mouths of June and July, but not nearly so 
much trouble and expense as is needed in the months of 
January and February. To readers of this book who have 
no brooder houses I will give you my plan for successfully 
rearing late hatched chicks. Supposing you are aware of 
the fact that you must not take the chicks off the nest or 
out of the incubator until fully forty-eight hours old, it is 
unnecessary to go over that part of my method. If you have 
a small poultry house or an outhouse where rats cannot get 
at the chicks place the brood in this building, keeping them 
in it for three or four weeks. This gives the chicks size and 
strength enough to withstand the hot sun and small grass 
lice. "When you move them from the building put them, if 
possible, in a shady place. If you can do so, by all means 
place them in a cornfield, for there is no place where a late 
hatched chick will grow as fast as in a field of corn well up, 
as it affords them plenty of shade, keeps them off the dewey 
grass and the fresh cultivated ground gives them plenty of 
insects, worms, etc. 

I feed my chicks while in the brooder, or say for the 
first six weeks, a chick food composed of wheat, kaffir corn, 
hog millet and rice, mixed and cracked, the greater portion 
of the food being wheat. To this I add a little pin head 
oats (very little), hard boiled eggs, some green cut bone, 
etc. Keep granulated charcoal by them all the time, as 
well as fresh water. Do not feed too much, but often. 

Make the little fellows work all you can. After you 
take them from the building they will find plenty to do and 
require little food. After they cire six weeks old change 
the food to a mixture of rolled oats, cracked corn and whole 
wheat, feeding three times a day, or better ye't, hopper feed- 
ing, which I believe to be the best way to feed chicks from 
six weeks of age until matured. The 'White Rock cockerel 
which Won first at Chicago and for which I refused $400 was 
a June hatched chick. ' 

There is no use arguing the question, the best colored 
specimens in nearly all breeds are late hatched chicks. The 




A Shaded Yard for Crowing Chicks. 

INSECT LIFE SURROUNDS THE JUNE HATCHEU 

CHICK 'WITH DELICACIES ITS EARLIER 

HATCHED RELATIVE CANNOT ENJOY, 

AND HELPS TO MAKE IT 

A "WINNER. 

To all those interested we most heartily commend the 
June hatched chicks, for various reasons. 

Many people think, and especially amateurs, that they 
must hatch a chick in February or March if they wish to get 
a prize winner, but with our experience nothing is farther 
from the truth. A truly healthy chicken and one that can 
successfully combat the pests and diseases that afflict It 
must start on the voyage of life with all conditions as fav- 
orable as possible, and there is nothing so conducive to vig- 
orous growth and good health as warm sunshine; the sun's 
rays also have a wonderful influence in bringing out and 
beautifying the plumage, especially in a two or more colored 
fowl. Another advantage that the June hatched chick has, 
and one of very material worth to him, is the warmth com- 
ing from mother earth at that time of the year. 'Warm feet 
are a great incentive to rapid growth, but the greatest bless- 
ing that can probably come to this bird in his race for 
maturity with his older brother is his opportunity to prey 
on insect life in his pillage for food. From the very first 
day that he emerges from the place of his birth to comfort- 
able quarters on some grassy plot he begins to enjoy his 
existence in the warm sunshine and to prey on the little 
worms, spiders and flies, and as he grows older and larger 
and his courage comes to him he becomes a bold hunter 
and wanders farther from home, making conquests on larger 
game, like the cricket, and eventually as his strength and 
endurance come to him he is able to capture that greatest 
of delicacies to the chicken appetite, the grasshopper. These 
advantages the earlier hatched bird does not have. At the 
time of his advent into the world, in March or April, when 
the atmosphere is usually damp, and there are more or less 
cold winds and a great deal of cloudy weather; consequently 
the chicken hatched at that time of the year has to be shel- 
tered, carefully fed and supplied with artificial heat, which 
except in brooders cannot be kept at an even temperature. 
These difficulties make the raising of early chicks not only 
very troublesome, but also very expensive. 

One of the greatest obstacles, perhaps, in raising late 
hatched chicks comes in the extremely hot and dry weather 



54 



THE CHJCK BOOK 



of August and September. The birds raise themselves, so 
to speak, so easily up to this time that breeders are apt to 
become careless and allow their shelter to become foul, and 
a coop that was plenty large enough six weeks before is 
wholly inadequate now, and they crowd and pack themselves 
together during hot and sultry nights until some are smoth- 
ered, and mites and lice kill many more. 

We receive some inquiries asking if one is unable to pro- 
duce a prize winner from chicks hatched in June. To such 
we tell what we have noticed by observation and personal 
experience. That some of our best show birds have been 
late hatched, and it is the personal experience of one mem- 
ber of this firm, who is also interested in the firm of J. M. 
Williams & Co., that the Buff Orpington cockerel that won 
first at Chicago in 1902 was hatched in .July and weighed 
eight and one-half pounds in the show room in January. 

These facts, together with others we might cite,- if time 
and space would allow, prove to our own satisfaction that 
June hatched chicks are just as profitable to raise as those 
hatched earlier, for every purpose except broiler raising. 

FILLIO, WILLIAMS & CO. 



get as large as the early hatched ones. If you are feeding 
a drove of hogs let them run with them and they will get 
the size and will have that large bone we want. 

W. REESE PAETZEL. 



A CAUTION TO WATCH FOR LICE AND GIVE THE 

CHICKS RANGE, AND SO MAKE WINNERS 

OF THE JUNE HATCHED BIRDS. 

Where most people have trouble in raising June hatched 
chicks is in letting the hen run loose as soon as she gets 
through hatching and sometimes neither she nor the chicks 
have shelter. The little chicks should have a dry place to 
sleep. Those who do not watch for lice find this a great 
drawback to the June hatched chicks. You should look at 
your chicks about every four weeks and dust them. A June 
hatched chick should have plenty of that good free range. 

There are prize winners hatched in June as well as in 
the earlier months. At Indianapolis in February two of the 
pullets in our first prize Buff Rock pen, also our third prize 
pullet, were hatched in June and there was not a larger 
boned pullet in the class than the third prize bird. 

When we take the hen from the nest with her chicks or 
take them from the incubator we let them run out on a dry 
floor and give them a fine chick grit. In about twenty-four 
to thirty-six hours after we feed them a. little chick food. 
Do not teed too much, but just keep them hungry. We feed 
the chick food for about four to six weeks and then we feed 
them wheat and cracked corn till they get large enough to 
swallow a whole grain of corn. 

We have sold on the market in January chickens that 
were hatched in June. They weighed five to eight pounds 
each and have showed pullets that weighed from six to seven 
and one-half pounds and cockerels that weighed seven to 
eight and one-half pounds. 

In raising late hatched chicks one of the main things is to 
get them started right and (hen keep them on the right road. 
I have given the method of feeding, but the main thing is to 
fight the lice and give them plenty of range; that is what 
makes them grow. 

Lice will take the strength from the chicks and often 
will kill them and people say it was the cholera when it is 
nothing but the lice. Sometimes too many chickens are 
crowded in one house and this will give them colds and stop 
their growth. 

If I was starting in the poultry business the month of 
June would suit me just as well if not better than the other 
months. I find the Buff Rock chicks have a better color in 
June, better wings and tails than the earlier chicks and if 
you watch the lice nnd give them plenty of ranee they will 



PROOFS THAT CORRECT CARE AND FEEDING DE- 
VELOP JUNE HATCHED CHICKS INTO WIN- 
NERS AND WEIGHTY SPECIMENS. 

In regard to late hatched chicks, especially those 
hatched in June: are they profitable? I say most emphati- 
cally: Yes! Such birds make good winter layers, especially 
the Wyandottes, and fbarring the early fall shows) make 
excellent exhibition specimens. 

Partridge Wyandotte pullets commence to lay when 
about six months old, and it is generally conceded that such 
birds as a rule are in their best condition to show just after 
having laid their first egg; therefore a pullet hatched the 
20th day of June should commence to lay about the 20th day 
of December, at which time she ihould be in the best con- 
dition. The majority of our largest shows are held during 
the months of December and January, and late hatched 
bird? have an equal chance of winning in competition with 
many of those which were hatched much earlier. 

One jeason I hatched chicks as late as the first day of 
August with good results; and it may be of interest to many 
to know that some of the very best cockerels and pullets 
that I raised were hatched the 20th day of July, among them 
being the first prize pullet at North Abington, which show 
was held the 25th day of December. The same pullet also 
took third prize at Madison Square Garden, New York, Jan- 
uary 5th, and another of the same age and in fact out of 
the same brood took fifth prize at that show. It will be 
seen that the pullet which won first at North Abington was 
just five months and five days old when exhibited, and the 
two when shown at the New York show were just five and 
one-half months old. These two birds were exactly stand- 
ard weight when shipped to the New York show, and the 
third prize pullet had laid her first egg. The fifth prize 
pullet then had many chicken feathers and was not filled 
out and finished, but was penciled all over with good open 
penciling and gave promise of developing into one of the 
most beautiful birds that I ever raised. The manner in 
which this bird developed during the following month was 
something surprising, and had she been hatched June 20th 
instead of July 20th, she would in all probability have been 
placed much higher at that show. She is to-day one of my 
most valuable specimens and lays a large, brown, well- 
shaped egg. 

I have seventeen pullets that were hatched last July, 
that are up in weight and all are high scoring birds, and as 
hens some of them will in all probability be a trifle over 
weight next fall when in show condition, which rather dis- 
counts the idea of many that late hatched birds are always 
small and stunted. 

One of the first questions naturally asked is. How were 
these birds fed? 

For the first three weeks they were fed entirely upon 
a chick ford, which was fed to them every two hours; for the 
next three months they were fed upon prepared chick food, 
beef s"ra's and what little scraps I had to give them that 
came from the kitchen. During this period they were fp<l 
four times a day. After they were four months old they 
were given a mash in the morning consisting of chick food 
and beef scraps mixed; at noon they were given oats and 
wheat, and at night they were given wheat and cracked 
corn; besides this they were often given cabbage, lettuce 



THE CHICK BOOK 



55 



and dainty bits of anything that I was able to get which I 
thought would induce them to grow. 

There are many reasons why we should recommend the 
setting of eggs all through the month of June, and especially 
to those who are just starting in the business of raising 
■ poultry. My experience has been that during the month of 
June eggs as a rule are very fertile, and a large percentage 
of them hatch, in many instances, every egg put under a 
hen. Weather conditions during this time of the year are 
generally such that both eggs and chicks will stand more 
hardship and neglect than is the case during the early 
hatching season. Fanciers (myself among them) who ad- 
vertise to replace all infertile eggs occasionally have to 
replace many that were shipped during the early part of 
the season, even when we know by repeated tests that at 
least 85 per cent of them were fertile. Such conditions prove 
to my mind that the manner and place where eggs are set 
(especially early ones) and the way hens sit upon them, or 
the manner in which they may be manipulated in an incu- 
bator, combined with weather conditions, cause many poor 
hatches, which not only is a loss to the fancier to the ex- 
tent of the infertile eggs returned, but often discourages 
customers who have had but little, if any, experience in the 
business. If an equal number of eggs had been ordered 
later in the season a greater number of chicks would have 
been hatched and both parties would have been better 
satisfied. 



It is also claimed that a larger per cent of late hatched 
chicks are pullets, which is desirable to most purchasers. 

The main question to be considered in raising late 
hatched chicks is to get them far enough advanced before 




Movable House to Serve as a Roosting Coop or to Protect Small 
Chicks In Bad Weather. 

the cold weather sets in, that they will not be stunted there- 
by. I have proved to my own satisfaction that it can be 
done, and birds raised to full standard weight from eggs 
that were set the last days of June. J. B. HADAWAY. 



FEEDING YOUNG CHICKENS, 

Dry Feeding and Unlimited Range. Make Large, Healthy Chicks. 



By C. B. Bristol. 



E HATCH all chicks with hens, but as soon as they are 
hatched I take them from the hens and put them in 
brooders, which I believe is the only way to rear chicks 
satisfactorily. You have them where you can watch 
them at all times. I use indoor broodei-s and believe them 
to be far superior to outdoor machines that are used with- 
out shelter. The outdoor brooder works well and is fairly 
convenient to use when the weather Is fair, but when it is 
stormy, or there is a high wind, it is neither convenient nor 
agreeable to attend to the lamp. When it rains hard, it is 
almost impossible to open and clean the brooder and the 
chicks suffer from being confined in very small quarters and 
from breathing the impure air of a dirty brooder. 

If the brooder is in a building, the chicks can have the 
run of the floor, when the weather is not fit for them to be 
outside. An open shed built over an outdoor brooder for 
shade and protection from rain and heavy winds is consid- 
erable advantage, for it protects one when he fills and trims 
the lamp, or adjusts the flame, and when he feeds and cares 
for the chicks. If swch a shed is provided with a muslin 
curtain to be let down in front when the weather requires 
it, it makes a good exercising room for the chicks, when 
they would otherwise have to be confined in the brooder. 

I do not feed anything until the chicks are twenty-four 
hours old; then I feed hard boiled eggs. For the first week 
I feed corn meal bread that is baked until it will crumble. 
This 1 feed as often as they eat it up clean. After the first 
week I feed cracker crumbs and stale bread which can be 
purchased of bakers very cheaply. As soon as the chicks 
will eat whole wheat and cracked corn I feed it. I also feed 
beef scraps twice a week, and keep plenty of grit in the 
hrooder. This is very necessary, as it aids digestion. 



I am aware that some poultrymen, who have reason to 
know, advise against the use of hard boiled eggs, but I 
have never found anything equal to it for the first meal. 
The corn bread is an excellent food, but must not be de- 
pended upon after the first week, because it is too much 
trouble to bake it and because it is not by any means a 
complete and well balanced ration. 

I keep the chicks in the brooder until they are a week 
old before I let them out in the brooder house. After they 
are four weeks old I have small coops, which are set in 
different parts of the place, so they will be by themselves, 
and all of the same age then are together. The smaller 
ones are not crowded by the larger ones. 

This is a point worth noting and acting upon, for if 
small chicks crowd into the same cooip with larger ones, 
the former are frequently overheated at night and pre- 
vented from getting their fair share of food in the day time. 
This prevents growth and arrests development, and the 
chick never makes so good a fowl as it would if it had a 
better chance. Those of one age should be fed separate 
from the other flocks, or the younger ones will be crowded 
away from the food by their larger brothers, and will not 
get enough to properly nourish their bodies. 

My chicks have unlimited range at all times. I breed 
Barred Plymouth Rocks and the above mode of feeding and 
caring for them has been very satisfactory to me, as I 
hardly ever have a sick chicken and I have pullets hatched 
late last year that weigh eight pounds. I feed grain ent\rely 
to all my fowls, and no ground feed except cracked corn. 
My first hatch this season, the loth of March, was ten chicks 
from thirteen eggs; from eggs laid in February, the coldest 
month we had this year. C. B. BRISTOL. 



FEEDING CHICKENS BALANCED RATIONS. 



From Hatching Time to Maturity— Suitable Foods and Quantities for the Different Periods of Growth— Feeding 

the Newly hatched Chick — Balancing the Rations— Ration for Growlhy Youngsters — Forcing Late Hatched 

Chicks for Show — Analysis of Food In Common Use by Poultrymen. 



By Robert H. Essex. 



HICKENS need a far narrower ration than do ma- 
tured fowls — a ration containing considerable ani- 
mal food, and this is one of the points I wish to 
impress upon readers. Experience has caused me 
to realize its importance. In the early days of Buff Ply- 
mouth Rocks, their combs were too large, and knowing that 
meat, even in small quantities, tended to increase the size 
of the combs, I avoided its use as much as possible. By 
this course the size of the combs was governed to a certain 
extent, but what a difference was visible in the growth of the 
young birds which were supplied with animal food and those 
which were deprived of it. We all like to experiment, and 
it took me a few years to find out that not only do chicks 
need animal food, but they need it in liberal quantities. It 
has long been demonstrated that some meat is necessary, 
but in the case of young chicks it is not generally fed in 
sufficient quantities. 

Feeding' the Newly Hatched Chicks. 

Study nature. Wild birds in feeding their young have 
preferences, even in the selection of vegetable foods. Some 
prefer weed seeds, others the young buds of trees; many are 
partial to fruit and other vegetables, but a very large ma- 
jority gather in the flies, bugs, beetles and worms that ven- 
ture within their range, and upon these the young warblers 
thrive, grow fat and feathers, and are in a very short time 
in show condition. Have you ever noticed the quills on the 
nestlings? How fast they grow. Seldom do we see a chick 
feather so fast. The food that produces feathers rapidly is 
the best food for chickens, and they should be well supplied 
with it, at least until they are through their first molt. Such 
food will be chiefly animal food and will compose a very 
narrow ration. 

It is well known that the yolk of the egg is absorbed 
by the chick before and after hatching. That is nature's 
food and must be good. Is it a wide or narrow ration? It 
is extremely narrow. One part protein to three parts fat is 
considered very narrow, but this first food of a chicken is 
even more so. It is composed of one part protein to about 
two parts fat (1.5.7:33.3). and please remember it is about 




"A" Loops and Runways for Young Chicks. 



one-half water — one-half water. Milk is another natural 
food for the young, and just as good for chickens as for 
babes. How is it proportioned — 3.3 protein to 4 fat. Add 
the starchy contents, and approximately it reaches the pro- 
portion of 1:2. Quite narrow, is it not? Yet the young live 
and thrive upon it. 

Nature teaches us, therefore, that the food of young 
chickens should contain about one part protein to two parts 
carbohydrates and fat. This is from two to three parts 
narrower than is generally advocated, but It has given bet- 
ter results than any other I have tried and my experiments 
have been not a few. Then, too, as we have shown nature 
upholds it. 

Do not feed hard boiled eggs in large quantities. Such 
food may bo balanced correctly, but it is indigestible for 
the very young chicks, and remember that of all foods only 
the portion digested provides nutriment. If you must feed 
it. let it be well broken. Let the particles be thoroughly 
separated by the use of stale bread crumbs, then nearly the 
whole of it will be digested. It is far better, however, to 
use uncooked eggs. Mix them with bread crumbs, shorts, 
cornmeal or all of these, so that the food shall not be sticky 
or pasty. Use some bran if you choose, but not too much, 
and if you are tempted to add a little clear sand, don't be 
timid about it. The shorts or middlings may be found too 
sticky; bread crumbs are best for the purpose and if you 
have only a few chicks it will be well to separate the yolk 
from the white of egg, using only the former and so avoid 
mixing toe much at a time. This refers, of course, to the 
first week. After that the chicks will take care of it all. 
Steel cut or granulated oats make a good food for the sec- 
ond week, also millet seed. 

As the chicks become older — say from two weeks of 
age, beef scraps, dried blood, animal meal or fine ground 
green bone may be used with benefit. These foods contain 
in large proportion the protein we want, and their use en- 
ables the feefler to make a ration suitable for chicks. Care 
must be taken that too much of this is not fed at first. Some 
of these foods are too strong for young chicks, and I use 
them at this age only when I can't get fresh meat — liver, 
etc., etc. 

Without the aid of beef scraps or one o£ the other ani- 
mal foods mentioned the eastern duck growers would never 
have been able to place ducklings upon the market in such 
desirable condition as they do.Their growth would not be so 
fast, their flesh would be less tender and the ducklings less 
plump. This means that demand would decrease and prices 
would be lower. Just so with young chickens. If intended 
for market as broilers they must have animal food to hasten 
growth and keep them in health. The forcing to which 
they are subject would run them off their legs in a short 
time if their food consisted exclusively of gi-ain either 
whole or ground. A most desirable feature of these animal 
foods is that their protein contents produce flesh without 
an excess of fat. The breeder of exhibition stock will ap- 
preciate the importance of this fact, especially if the cock- 
erels which he has been forcing for early fall shows give 
signs of leg weakness. The food they have been getting 



THE CHICK BOOK 



57 



has produced too much fat and not enough muscle and flesh. 
A change of food — the addition of animal protein to the 
ration — goes to the root of the trouble and in a short time 
the birds are again "on their feet." 

Animal protein works wonders with fowls, and while it 
is so plentiful in green bone, dried blood, animal meal and 
beef scraps, etc.. and considering that these foods are so 
easily obtainable, no breeder of fowls can afford to be with- 
out a supply. In animal meal and beef scraps there is 
nearly as much protein as there are carbohydrates and fat. 
In green bone there is about half as much, and in dried 
blood there is little else than protein. 

How chickens delight in a little crisp lettuce, grass or 
clover. Provide it if possible; otherwise cook some carrots, 
cabbage, turnips, beets or mangels for them, or let them 
pick away at the raw roots, or a few raw potatoes. Clover 
is now sold in such convenient forms (both cut and ground) 
that no breeder should be without it if he has any difficulty 
in providing green food. Lettuce and clover contain a large 
proportion of protein. 

Let your chicks have enough food, but do not stuff 
them. Little chicks will begin to cry for you when they dis- 
cover that you are their attendant, and if yon are at all soft 
hearted it will be hard to refuse the continued stuffing they 
cry for. Feed little and often. Chicks are never so happy 
as when scratching in shallow litter for little crumbs or 
seeds. Will they do this if overfed? No. Limit the food 
and keep them singing, but let them have enough to repay 
them for their work. 

Some breeders keep one variety of food continually be- 
fore their chicks and a number of them are successful poul- 
try raisers. This seems contradictory following immedi- 
ately after the suggestion to feed little and often, but it is 
not so strange as It appears at first glance. If one kind of 
food is kept continually before them, the chicks partake of 
it only occasionally as they need it. If they have been fed 
on the plan first suggested — little and often, it is likely 
they will gorge themselves when first allowed access to 
large quantities of food, but if they have been used to it, 
they simply nibble and run, and although their crops are 
never empty, neither are they overloaded. If such a method 
be adopted the food to be kept before them must always be 
of the same variety. Cracked corn is generally used. A 
change from corn to wheat would be an inducement to over- 
feed. It would tempt their appetites and induce them to 
overload their crops. We do not advocate this method of 
feeding, but if it is adopted, as it sometimes is for a time- 
saver, the other food supply should be made up largely of 
protein. 

Balancing the Kations for Chicks. 

The reader has now been duly impressed wich the value 
of protein and its use in the ration, and we will give an 
example of balancing the ration so that anybody with any 
foods will know how to go about it. 

Following along the lines of our argument the ration 
shall possess about one part protein to two parts carbohy- 
drates and fat, an1 is intended for newly hatched chicks. 

Our first chick food is egg, both white and yolk well 
beaten. In this the proportion of protein and carbohy- 
drates is about equal. 

This we mix with bread so as to render it comparatively 
dry. We will assume that we have a flock of chicks that 
require about a pound of dry matter each meal. Dry mat- 
ter is the total bulk of food less water or moisture. In one 
pound of eggs, that is the edible portion, there is twenty- 
seven per cent of dry matter that is made up of thirteen 
per cent protein and twelve per cent fat. in addition to ash, 



etc. In a pound of bread crumbs we find eighty-eight per 
cent of dry matter made up of eleven per cent protein, 
seventy-five per cent fat, etc. If we add the total amount 
of protein and fat contained in the eggs and bread, we find 
we have twenty-four parts protein and eighty-seven parts 
fat; that is, about three and a half times as much fat as 
protein, the Kctual ligures being 3:6. The nutritive ratio 
of this mixture would be 1:3.6. To make the ration nar- 




A Shelter That Can be Opened or Closed, os the Weather Requires. 

rower we might reduce the bread crumbs to three-quarters 
of a pound, but that would make the mixture too "pasty." 
We will therefore leave it as before and instead of securing 
the narrower ration by that means we feed in addition a 
little meat. Take beef scraps for instance. These on an 
average contain about ninety-three per cent dry matter, of 
which forty-five per tent is protein and forty-seven per cent 
is carbohydrates. The protein and carbohydrates being 
about equal it will need only a little beef scraps to bring 
the nutritive ratio down to 1:2, the ration we have sug- 
gested before as being a desirable one for chicks. 

We do not advise the use of beef scraps at this early age, 
but having the analysis before us, we used it as an example. 
Fresh meat will analyze much the same, so far as protein 
contents are concerned, and should be used in preference. 
If a little more bread is necessary to mix with the egg, it 
may be used. 

After the chickens are one or two weeks old the egg 
food will become scarcer or perhaps too expensive and it 
becomes necessary to have a substitute. We wish to make 
the change of food without making too great a change in 
the ratio. In looking around for a suitable food we think 
of cracked wheat. One pound of cracked wheat contains 
about eighty-nine per cent dry matter, of which .075 is pro- 
tein and .700 carbohydrates. Once more we take beef scraps 
to be fed in conjunction with it. We have given the amount 
of protein and carbohydrates in beef scraps. Now add the 
total to that contained in wheat and we have .525 protein 
and 1.170 carbohydrates and fats. Dividing the latter by 
the former gives us a ratio of 1:2.2. 

Finely cracked corn may be substituted for the wheat. 
In which case the following result would be attained: 



One pound corn 

One pound beef scraps 



Dry Matter. Protein. Carbohydrates. 
. . .89 .062 .752 

, . .93 .45 .47 



Nutritive ratio. 



512 1.222 
1:2.4. 



5S 



THE CHICK BOOK 



By the time the chickens have been fed this way for 
another week we reduce the proportion of beef scraps to 
one-half, which, in connection with cracked wheat, gives 
us a nutritive ratio of 1:3.2. This is a very satisfactory 
ration until the chickens are three weeks old. 

As tar back as we can remember we have known eggs 
and bread crumbs to be a first food for cage birds and for 
chicks, and now having examined the composition of these 
articles of food, what does it prove? Simply that the "old 
woman's nonsense" of eggs and bread crumbs is scientifi- 
cally and naturally correct and that, knowingly or unknow- 
ingly, our grandmothers have been following nature's way 
as closely as possible. 

If it is not desirable to go to the trouble of figuring out 
a ration, the easier way is to choose from the list such a 
variety of foods as will give a ration near enough for general 
purposes. It should be remembered that the larger the pro- 
portion of carbohydrates and fat, the wider the ration. If 
you wish to make the ration narrower take a food that pos- 
sesses little carbohydrates and fat; bran, for instance, is 
one of the best of foods, but too bulky and idigestible for use 
except with a more concentrated food. 

In this connection we must warn the reader to use very 
little, if any, cottonseed meal. We have before informed 
readers that it is very indigestible. Linseed meal is more 
easily digested, but it, too, should be used sparingly. 

Remember to give the chickens all the green food they 
need. There is nothing better for them than clover, lettuce 
or cabbage. 

From the age of three weeks or a month to the age of 
two months, nearly any grain may be fed that is suitable in 
size; that is, anything except whole corn. I generally feed 
hulled oats, finely cracked corn, millet and wheat, the 
greater the variety the better. If the fowls are on a good 
sized range they will provide themselves with nearly enough 
animal food. At this period the basis of the ration is wheat. 
I feed as much wheat aa all the other grains combined. 

Ration for Growthy Youngsters. 

Early hatched birds cause little worry, little trouble, 
and it is a pleasure to see them grow. 

An extensive run where shade is available is desirable. 
A grass run, an alfalfa patch, a clover or cornfield are alike 
ideal poultry runs and provide an abundance of insects that 
coax the rangy youngsters to exercise while furnishing them 
with a substitute for meat. Chickens from two to five 
months old gain size and health under such conditions. It 
they are on a farm where range is unlimited they need only 
a little additional food morning and evening, the variety 
depending upon what the fields afford. 'Where the range is 
less extensive it provides fewer insects and little or no grain. 

We will assume that green food is plentiful. 

Of what then shall the ration consist? Such foods as 
promote the formation of muscle and bone, — that means 
size; flesh and fat — tliat means vigor. 

What shall the foundation of the ration be now? 

Oats. 

"But oavs are so seldom fed," you say, "particularly in 
sections where corn is plentifully grown." 

Where oats have been tried they are seldom discarded. 
They are the best grain I know to put size on a fowl, and 
they have formed the foundation of my ration for growing 
-stock for many years, and my strain is noted for its size. 

To form feathers which are continually being renewed 
in fowls of this age we require more animal matter than can 
be secured on the range. It is better to give more rather 
than less at such a stage and a ration of about one part pro- 
"tein to four parts carbohydrates is none too narrow. It may 



be composed of the following each day; One feed of oats, 
one feed of wheat and one of meat or cut bone and corn. 
For I he purpose of forming the ration we will take one 
pound of each with exception of meat and corn, of which we 
give half pound each. More or less than these quantities 
may be used, depending upon the number of fowls to be fed, 
but the proportion will be the same. 

Upon examination of the list of foods given herewith 
we find that in a pound of oats there is .092 protein and .532 
carbohydrates and fat; in a pound of wheat .075 and .700 re- 
spectively; in a half pound of corn .035 and .392, and in a 
half pound of beef scraps .225 and .235 respectively. To 
illustrate, we will add these quantities: 

Carbohydrates 
Protein. and Fats. 

One pound cats 092 .532 

One pound wheat 075 .700 

One-half pound corn 035 .392 

One-half pound beef scraps 225 .235 

.427 1.S59 

Upon dividing the carbohydrates and fat by the protein 
we find the proportion of these important constituents to be 
one part protein to 4.35 parts carbohydrates and fat. This 
is a little wider than we intended, but it is near enough for 
all practical purposes, even if we did not consider the green 
food and insects secured in the run during the day. The 
addition of these will bring the ration down to the desired 
point. 

The foods composing the ration will be changed fre- 
quently with the exception of the oats. We will use oats 
every day. Sometimes we may substitute buckwheat for 
wheat or corn, at other times barley, etc., etc. Occasionally 
we feed a mash in which we use considerable bran. This 
will assist in keeping the daily ration narrow even though 
we may feel it wise to give a feed of peas or barley or an 
extra supply of corn (these grains containing large propor- 
tions of carbohydrates and fat). 

With the example and analysis of foods here given there 
will be no difficulty forming a ration from such foods as are 
plentiful. Prices vary, as we have said, and the variation 
should be accepted as a hint to change the food. The fowls 
will not object. 

During the month immediately preceding a show the 
birds may be fed as suggested for late hatched chickens, 
but unless they are under weight there will be no necessity 
for feeding them after the usual evening meal, which is 
given before sundown. 

Forcing Late Hatched Chicks for Show. 

Both the fancier and the breeder of poultry for market 
are well on the way to successful feeding when they have 
realized that different foods produce different conditions and 
have decided to select such foods as will aid them in secur- 
ing the condition desired. It is clear that a change of food 
is necessary when the chick merges from its babyhood, takes 
on a new suit of feathers and becomes a full-fledged young- 
ster. Every poultryman we believe sees the necessity for a 
change of food at that period, but the majority are governed 
simply by the knowledge that the chicken is then equipped 
with better means of digestion and can do with less costly 
and more bulky food. True it is that in most cases the 
breeder desires rapid growth and generally provides, or at 
least intends to provide, that which will induce it. Is it not 
in addition necessary to consider what requirement the fowl 
is intended to fulfill? Take the exhibitor, for instance. His 
fowls are destined for the show rooms, yet this does not mean 
that they shall all be fed alike or in equal quantities. Some 
must be prepared for the early fall and winter shows; others 
for the later winter shows. If the exhibitor is blessed with 



THE CHICK BOOK 



59 



incubators to hatch early chicks, brooders to accommodate 
them, and experience that enables him to carry them health- 
ily through the early spring when conditions are unnatural, 
then indeed he will feed his fall exhibits as he will his later 
show birds, because there is little or no necessity for forcing 
them; but if his chicks are late hatched, he must adopt heroic 
measures to "bring them along" if he would gain a place 
among the successful exhibitors. These late hatched, forced 
youngsters seldom attain the size of those which are fed for 
growth and vigor and allowed to develop size before putting 
on the gloss and finish for the show room. 

What method of feeding is practiced to hurry these 
young candidates along? 

A ration composed of animal matter supplemented by 
fat forming foods; and during the closing stage the addition 
of foods known to contain considerable oil. The first is in- 
tended to hasten maturity; the second to put on weight, and 
the third to put on the finishing touches — the gloss to the 
feathers. Bulky vegetable food is added to keep the diges- 
tive organs in good working order, and frequently condi- 
ments are given to coax the fowl to eat more and more of 
the concentrated food. Frequent change of food is neces- 
sary so that the fowl shall not go "off its feed." Few foods 
are too expensive to be procured at this season, for winning 
in the fall means sales for the winter shows. 

In the days when the wrUer was exhibiting — where the 
winters stole well into the spring and the big fall show 
seemed to advance to meet the summer— the principal event 
being held in August — many were the rations tried, and 
feeding sometimes extended well into the evening hours. 
"Little and often" was found to be a good motto, and only 
at the last meal (about 9 p. m) were the fowls coaxed to eat 
more than they wanted, then they got the tempting tit-bits 
which had been saved for the last moment — scraps of meat, 
green cut boue, bits of bread, oatmeal porridge (well 
sugared), cooked rice, cooked potatoes — fed by lamplighi.. 

Result: Winners at the fall shows: delicate birds 
later on. 

These fowls were not allowed extensive range. They 
were confined in yards about eight by fifty feet, in flocks of 
eight or ten. Their roosting pens were kept scrupulously 
clean; wooden floors well sprinkled with sand every week, 
and droppings raked every day. They were confined to 
the house during inclement weather. 

Tame? Sure! A little training in good sized coops 
built upon the walls above the roosts — handling every day — 




A Closed Roosting Coop for Cool Weather. 

induced a confidence in their attendants that made all the 
difference during show week. 

The daily food during these forcing days consisted of 
mash early in the morning (a small amount), wheat, oats or 
barley or buckwheat in litter at about ten a. m. and two 
p. m and corn at six p. m. Sunflower seeds were frequently 



given in place of the barley, wheat or oats, and during the 
two weeks preceding the show, hemp seed was provided, or 
linseed meal mixed with the mash. Cabbage was hung in the 
pens continually; grit of course always before them — some- 
times put in Iheir mash; and they had all the milk they 
could drink. 




An Open Roosting Coop for Worm Weather. 

We are enabled to present analyses of foods that have 
been made by experiment stations throughout the country. 
First it must be understood that analyses differ slightly be- 
cause the foods analyzed differ in composition. It would be 
extremely difficult to procure two samples of wheat that 
contain exactly equal proportions of protein, carbohydrates 
and fat; similarly with regard to other vegetable formation. 
This applies also to animal matter. The quantities given 
therefore are usually average quantities, yet are sufficiently 
exact for practical purposes. 

Proportion of Protein and Carbohydrates and Fat in 
Foods Used by Poultrymen. 





Digestible Matter in One Pound. 


(Parentheses are used where 
the digestibility is estimated 
from that of other similar feed- 
ing stuffs.) 


'1 


£ 
a, 


£1 -f. 
0£ 


o 


> . 


GRAINS: 

Wheat 


.896 
.912 
890 
891 
.874 
.884 
.856 
873 

.881 
.884 
.879 
.868 
.892 
850 
.849 
.881 
.95 


(.07^) 
.070 
092 
.087 

( 078) 

(.064) 
.188 

(.054) 

,120 
(.115) 
.128 
(.237) 
.122 
.055 
.044 
.074 
.168 
.289 
.372 

194 

.32S 

(.071) 

168 
.0*3 
.186 

009 
(.009) 
.016 
.011 
.010 
.010 
(.028) 
.104 

.028 
(•31 
.035 
.008 


(.700) 
.784 
.532 
.962 

(.548) 

(.703) 
.535 

(.668) 

.454 
(.488) 
.609 
(.505) 
.586 
.711 
.665 
.668 
.531 
.449 
.437 

.633 
.725 
(.795) 
.471 
.128 
.403 

.157 
( 089) 
.109 
.054 
.085 
.077 
(.153) 
.430 

-050 
.137 
.057 
.059 


.775 
854 

.ti24 

.779 
(.626) 
(.767) 

.'23 
(.722) 

.574 

( 603) 

.737 

(.742) 

.708 

.766 

.709 

.762 

699 

.738 

.809 

.827 
1.048 
(.866) 
639 
.171 
.589 

.166 

(.098) 
.125 
.065 
.095 
.087 

(.181) 
534 

.078 
.168 
.092 
.067 


(1:9.3) 


Corn .... 

Oats 

Barley 

Buckwheat 

Rye.. . 


1:11 2 
1:5.8 
1:8.0 
(1:7.0) 
(1:11.0) 




1:2.8 


Sorghum Seed 


(1:13.3) 


BRANS, MIDDLINGS AND MEALS. 

Bran (wheat) 

Bran (rye) 

Middlings (wheat) 

Middlings (buckwheat) 


1:3.8 
(1:4.2) 
1:4 8 

(1:2 1) 


Shorts (wheat) 


1:4 8 


Corn Meal. ... 


1:12.9 


Corn and Cob Meal , 

Barley Meal 

Pea Meal 


1:15.1 
1:9.3 
1-3 2 


Linseed Meal 


899 
918 

.917 
.922 
.889 
.917 
243 
.898 

211 
.114 
.135 
.091 
.114 
.095 
.280 
.916 

.082 
.127 
.095 
.070 


1:1.6 
1:1.2 


MANUFACTURED FEEDS. 

Gluten Feed 


1:3.3 




1:2.2 




(1:11.2) 


Brewers' Grains (dried) 


1:2.8 


Brewers' Grains (wet) 


1:3.0 
1:2.2 


BULKY VEGETABLE FOODS. 


1:17 4 


Carrots 


1-9:9 


Beets (Sugar) 

Mangel-Wurzels 


1:6.8 
1:4.9 


Rutabagas 


1:8.5 


Turnips 


1:7.7 




(1:5.5) 


Alfalfa 


1-4.1 


DAIRY PRODUCTS. 

Buttermilk 


1-1.8 


Milk 


1:4.4 




1:1 6 


Whey 


1:7.4 



ROBT. H. ESSEX. 



CARE or THE GROWING STOCK, 



Successful Poultry Raisers Give Their Favorite Methods of Caring for and Managing Chicks from Six Weeks to Six 
Months of Age — Original Plans of Roosting Coops — Range for the Youngsters — 

What and How to feed. 



[In line with the symposium on "Feeding Brooder Chicks." and "Care of June Chicks." we present the following additional methods in use 
among prominent breeders for bringing their growing stock to a vigorous maturity. The advice here given is of great value, as it is the result of 
experiment and observation by men whose successes qualify them to take rank among the foremost producers of good poultry.— Editor]. 



COLONY COOP FOB GROWING FOWLS— GRASS RUNS 

AND SHADE— CONDITIONS AND FOOD THAT 

PRODUCE BIG COCHINS. 

^UR chicks (Cochins) are hatched by both hens and in- 
cubators. We use outdoor brooders, called 200- 
chick size, and place from forty to fifty in each 
brooder. When the chicks are about six weeks old 
and are nicely feathered we divide them into lots of twelve 
each, keeping the cockerels and pullets separate. They are 
then placed in weaning coops, which are 5x6 feet, ground 
plan, and three feet high in front and two feet at the 
rear. (Fig. 1.) 

These coops are provided with frame doors hinged on 
the inside and covered with one-fourth inch mesh screen. 

On the outside a sol- 
id wood d'oor Is 
Mnged at the top. 
This door can be 
raised or lowered 
or closed entirely, 
las the state of 
weather may re- 
quire. On warm 
summer nights the 
screen door is closed 
and the wood door 
is lowered and 
propped to provide 
shelter in ease of a 
windstorm or hard 
rain. This arranige- 
ment gives the 
chicks plenty of fresh air. and at the same time protects 
them from vermin and night prowling animals. 

Having an abundance of green grass and shade, these 
weaning coops are almost constantly on the move. This re- 
duces to a minimum the possibility of disease arising from 
accumulated filth, as is almost sure to occur if the chicks are 
compelled to live on ground saturated with poisonous excre- 
ments. During these stages of development they are given 
a thorough dusting of Persian insect powder once a week. 
This treatment we consider to be very important, as we have 
found by experience that lice cause more trouble than all 
other ailments combined. 

From tlie ages of six weeks to six months the chicks are 
fed cracked corn, pure clean wheat, hulled oats, and at noon 
are given a mash feed of some good poultry food, and once 
a week we add to this ration, fresh ground green bone. 

We never use any drugs or condiments and have no se- 
cret method of getting our Cochins so large, as we have 




Fla. I— Coop with Double Doors Used by 
A. W. Rudy S Son. 



found that if fresh pure food is used, combined with a little 
brains while using it, and the chicks are kept under condi- 
tions that will enable them to assimilate what is given 
them, their growth will be rapid and their development 
perfect. 

We are very careful when selecting the chicks to make 
up a colony, to sei=* that they are all of the same size and of 
equal development. If any show a tendency to going back, 
or slow development, they are immediately removed and 
placed with a younger fiock, where they will have at least a 
fighting chance to keep up with the procession. When six 
months old they are placed in larger houses, the flooi-s of 
which are covered with a thick bed of straw. Cochins have 
no use for roosts till they are at least one year old. 

A. W. RUDY & SON. 



RAISED IN AN ORCHARD— ALLOWED TO 'HAVE 
THEIR OWN WAY'— VARIETY OF FOOD. 

In regard to our care and managetoent of chicks from 
six weeks to six months old, we have a large apple orchard 
near the house v,-hich has been fenced in and made into four 
largo yards. A brooder house, or "summer home" for chicks 
has been placed on the dividing line between the yards, so 
that at this age we are able to separate the young pullets 
and cockerels, giving them separate yards and roosting 
places in the buildings. We have low, flat, movable roosts 
standing on four legs, which are placed in the buildings soon 
after the brooders are removed, and here you will find our 
chicks at night until they are from one-half to two-thirds 
grown. 

Some of them prefer the low branches of the trees which 
are so conveniently near by, and as we find it means con 
stant warfare to compel them to seek the buildings, while 
they dwell in the orchards, we allow them to "have their 
own way" until the unpleasant fall weather sets in, when 
they are removed to winter quarters and sheltered at night. 
We have a "cornfield" adjoining the yard in which the pul- 
lets are allowed to roam one day. and the cockerels the next. 
They always come home to roost and be fed. We usually 
put about as many in each yard as we can get of the same 
age and sex, varying from forty to seventy-five to the yard. 

In the morning we teed a mash composed of equal parts 
of cornmeal, ground oats and wheat bran, with a little meat 
scraps added, also a very little salt. Have sometimes used 
a prepared poultry food in place of this mash. The mash we 
scald with equal parts of sweet milk and water, and feed 
while just a little warm. The chicks are given all the fresh 
skim milk and water they will drink, and a basin of "dutch 
cheese" is sometimes added to the mash. A little fresh cut 
green bone is fed once or twice a week if we can get it. At 
noon oats, wheat or buckwheat is scattered in the yards for 
them to hunt for, and at night they are fed all the wheat or 



THE CHICK BOOK 



61 



corn they will pick up. They of course help themselves to 
apples in the late summer and early (all, and we occasionally 
give them cabbage and tomatoes to pick at after the grass 
gets dry, or any little "treat" we happen to have for them, 
to give variety. C. W. JEROME & CO. 



PLENTY OF RUNWAY AND YARD ROOM— LEAN- 
TO COOP. 

I use both incubator and hens for hatching. If the hens 
are slow in laying, requiring too long a time to supply a suf- 
ficient number of eggs for an incubator, I put the first two 
or three broody hens that I can find to work. I never set 

one hen singly. If 
the hens lay we.l 
I set the incuba- 
tor. I much pre- 
f e r incubators 
and brooders, es- 
pecially the 
brooder. I have 
hatched out 
chicks by hens 
raised them in 
brood<-rs without 
any loss of chicks 
to speak of and 




Fig. 2— Style ot Lean-lo Coop Used by Mr. 
John Hettlch. 



With much less trouble than wa;tching the old hen. 

I never use outside coops, even for broods with hens. I 
have on the south side of a main building a lean-to shed 
six by fourteen feet with a glass front. (See Fig. 2.) This 
shed I use for my young chicks. I have movable partitions 
and can divide it into from three to five compartments, de- 
pending on the number and the size of broods, each com- 
partment containing a brood of chicks. From this they can 
run on the outside in good weather either with the hen, or 
with the hen confined on the inside, so the chicks can run 
in and out at will. 

In this coop they remain until they are weaned, which is 
from six to ten weeks. Of course this coop must be cleaned 
three or four times a week, with plenty of litter or chaff on 
the floor, with dry food fed in litter to make them work, and 
plenty of fresh water. They grow and thrive from the very 
start. After chicks are weaned they are moved from this 
lean-to coop into the main room adjoining, which is 12x14. 
In this room they are put to roost, while other youngsters 
take their place in the first or young chick coop. The last 
lot of chicks I allow to grow up in this shed, while the first 
lot remain in the main room of the big building until about 
October 1. when the cockerels are separated from the pullets. 

My cockerel house is in another part of the yard, with 
plenty of runway and yard room. Pullets go into my main 
hen house, which is 12x15, divided into two parts, with 
plenty of yard room to each part. I do not allow my hens 
and pullets to run together. I find hens get too fat on a 
ration that would keep a pullet starving hungry. 

.\s to feeding chicks I find little trouble to keep them 
growing from the time they are six weeks to six months old 
on plerity nf sound small grain, wheat and chopped corn be- 
ing my main ration. Twice a week I feed them a full mess 
of wheat bran, middlings and oil-mea! well mixed. I be- 
lieve that oil-meal has a splendid effect in producing fine, 
glossy plumage. Of course, we all know that plenty of grit 
and fresh water are two essentials. It is the little chicks 
that give most trouble in getting them up to six weeks old. 

I am always making a fight on lice, both on fowls and 
in buildings. Lice kill more chicks and grown fowls, for 
that matter, than all other diseases combined. 

JOHN HETTICH. 



MOVABLE COOPS IN BLUE GRASS PASTURE- 
METHOD OF FEEDING— CORNFIELD AND 
CLOVER FOR RANGE. 

I do not have any particular style of coop — a good roof 
and bottom of boards always, made so that it can be conven- 
iently cleaned. Twenty chicks to a hen I think about right. 
The coops are placed near the house for convenience while 
the chicks are young, moving them further away as they 
grow older. At about five or six weeks they are located 
near a blue grass pasture, with a number of apple trees for 
shade. Here they have range until cold weather drives 
them into winter quarters. 

My first food for little chicks is dry wheat bread, moist- 
ened with sweet milk. This is good enough for the first 
day; the second day. oatmeal and millet seed are given, 
with good grit. They get water from the start. Up to four 
weeks old their food is bread, moistened in milk, millet seed, 
oatmeal cornbread, baked as for the table, and cracked 
wheat. After they are four weeks old I discontinue the oat- 
meal and bread and milk, and feed millet seed, whole wheat 
and cracked corn, with cornbread for breakfast, baked the 
day before. After the chicks are two months old I feed a 
bran mash, consisting of one-third each of ground oats, 
corn and wheat bran, moistened with milk, clabber or sour 
milk preferred. This I feed in the evening, all they will eat. 

I follow this method of feeding the old fowls, believing 
the evening the proper time for soft food. For late hatched 
broods (say the last of June or first of July hatches) I know 
of no place better for cooping than a near cornfield, with a 
clover meadow near by. The corn furnishes plenty of shade 
through the warm days, and the clover field supplies grass- 
hoppers. 1 have had good results from late broods raised in 
this manner. O. L. KING. 



ROOSTING COOP FOR YOUNG STOCK— THREE FEEDS 
A DAY AND PLENTY OF RANGE AND WORK. 

In raising chicks, if they have been fed and cared for as 
they should, are free from mites and diseases until weaning 
time, or until they are large enough to be taken from the 
brooder to the roosting coop, I find that the greatest work 
and care of the season is over. After my chicks are six to 
eight weeks old I give them their liberty all through the 
day, except when the weather is too bad to let them run. 
I feed them three times a day and make them work for it all 
except the morning feed. For a roosting place I use coops 
with a floor space two and one-half feet square. (Fig. 3.) 
I also use these coops with a run attached for the hen 
and brood when I let the chicks run with the hen instead 
of using a brood- 
er, so when the 
chicks are wean- 
ed they will con- 
tinue to go home 
to roost. 

These coops are 
made of seven- 
eighths inch 
matched lumber, 
well seasoned. 
The sides can be 
made of lumber 
taken from dry goods boxes. The front should be two feet 
high, the back sixteen inches high. This gives sufficient 
slant to the top to run the water off when it rains. The 
back is left open and has slats nailed across to keep the 
hen in. and to allow the chicks to pass out. This open side 
admits plenty of fresh air at all times. The top should pro- 
ject over about eight inches at back of coop to prevent the 




Fig. 3— Roosting Coops fur Young Stock Rec- 
ommended by Mr C. E. Read. 



62 



THE CHICK BOOK 



rain from blowing in. In the front there is a door twelve 
inches wide. There is a bottom made by nailing boards to- 
gether on two cleats, made so that the coop will slip down 
over the floor onto the ground. This prevents the rain from 
blowing under and wetting the floor. The cleats keep the 
bottom from resting flat on the ground. The coop should 
be given two coats of paint. 

This kind of a roosting place is very easily cleaned or 
whitewashed by lifting it off the floor. When the ground is 
dry and warm the floor is not necessary, simply move the 
coop to a now spot when it begins to get foul. Twenty-five 
or thirty chicks can, without being crowded, roost in a 
place of this kind until they are three or four months old. 
When the chicks are raised in a brooder I prefer a roosting 
coop large enough to accommodate fifty. This number is as 
many as should be put in one flock until three or four 
months old. I then move them to a large roosting house, 
where they continue to roost on a floor until five or six 
months old. Sometimes I put as many as one hundred in a 
place of this kind. From here they go to their permanent 
roosting place, which is on perches made of two-by-four- 
inch scantling, with the top rounded a little. Whatever 
kind of place chicks have to roost In, it should be kept 
clean and free from mites. Unless you do this you will 
surely fail. 

I have no mechanical arrangement or fixed method for 
feeding chicks. I always feed what I think the time and 
occasion demand. I believe that as much depends on the 
way food is prepared and manner of feeding, as on the ma- 
terial. For the morning meal I usually give a light feed of 
cornbread baked just the same as for table use, or a mash 
composed of bran and middlings. They will still be a little 
hungry, and will start out hunting what they can find to 
pick up. Along toward noon I scatter wheat among the 
leaves and litter in a large part of their range. This gives 
them something to do that greatly interests them until 
along in the afternoon. When the sun is about one hour 
high I scatter cracked corn, and perhaps some millet seed 
or wheat in some litter. This will keep them busy until 
about sundown, and by this time their crops are full, they 
have done a good day's work and are ready to go to their 
coop and enjoy a good night's rest. 

There is always plenty of fresh water and grit where 
they can go to it whenever they choose. G. E. READ. 



RAT AND STORM PROOF ROOSTING COOP. 

The brood coop I have had most success with is 
made as follows: Length, twenty-four inches; height, 
in front, twenty inches; rear, twelve inches; width, 
eighteen inches (inside measurements). I make the 

coop of matched 
pine, with board 
floor, the cleats 
on the outside, so 
as to raise the 
coop off the 
ground. The top 
p r o j ec ts three 
inches at the 
sides and four 
•inches at the 
rear. I make a closed front (boards the same as the coop), 
the front being hinged to the top, and the top and front 
mitered, so as to close tight when down. The coop front 
Is kept in place by cleats on the inside, these cleats allow- 
ing about seven-eighths of an inch space on both sides for 
ventilation when the door is down. 

The front has iron strips with three or four holes fast- 




Flg. 4— Coop with Adjustable hood Front, 



ened about the center for the purpose of forming a hood to 
the coop, which can be set at different angles by placing 
screw eyes to the sides of the coop. This feature of the coop 
is grand, as by the hood the hot sun can be kept out as well 
as driving rains. 

These coops save me many chicks each season. They 
are rat proof and storm proof. The hen is kept in by a lath 
front fastened just at the edge of coop. By painting these 
coops and storing when not in use, they last a long time 
and repay for their cost many times over. When the chicks 
are older 1 utilize dry goods boxes, cut down to about the 
same shape, only I make a hood of the lower eighteen inches 
only REV. C. A. SMITH. 




Mr. r. f. Mow's Roosting Coop. 



ROOSTING COOP FOR STOCK UNTIL READY FOR 
WINTER QUARTERS— MAKING THE MASH- 
GRAIN FOOD. 

As soon as the hen weans the chicks (or if raised in a 
brooder, as soon as they are large enough to take care of 
themselves) they are removed to roosting coops made and 
used exclusively for this purpose. These coops are scat- 
tered along a 
hedge fence fac- 
ing a large orch- 
ard, where they 
can get range and 
shade at all 
times. The coops 
are made from 
cheap lumber, 
but are strong and tight. We have them from six 
to ten feet long, but prefer them ten feet long, two 
feet high at back, three and one-half feet in front, the roof 
projecting over the front to keep out rain. Ends and back 
are boarded tight, and there is also a tight floor. Front is 
of wire netting nailed to the frame just fitting, and hinged 
at the top, .so as to be closed at night and to shut the chicks 
in when getting them used to new quarters. The coops have 
roosting poles lengthwise the whole length of coop. We do 
not find so many crooked breast bones from roosting on 
these poles as are found by chicks roosting on the floor. The 
coops must be kept far enough apart so the different flocks 
will not try to crawl into one coop. If possible we put pul- 
lets in different quarters from the cockerels. We have kept 
chicks in these coops until snow flies. 

We feed only three times a day when chicks are this 
age. The morning and noon ration consists of corn meal 
(ground fine) two parts, bran one part, middlings two parts, 
thoroughly mixed. To this we add salt and to a peck we 
add one quart of meat meal. This is placed in a light ves- 
sel, boiling water poured over it and mixed to a stiff dough. 
We use a grain sack to cover the vessel, and pack very 
tightly to keep in all the steam. Let the mixture cook in 
Its steam and feed only when cool. They are fed all they 
will eat up clean. At night they are fed corn, wheat and 
oats — very little oats, however, as we have had poor success 
with oats. The grains are fed alternately so they will not 
get tired of either grain. F. E. MOW. 



EXCELLENT CONDITIONS FOR GROWING HEALTHY 
BIRDS. 
Living as we do on a farm, we have plenty of range, 
grass and shade. We have a large apple, plum and cherry 
orchard, also raspberry and blackljerry patches, which af- 
ford fine range for young chicks. As for food, we use only 
such grains as we raise on the farm. When the chicks are 
about six weeks old we put them in flocks of fifteen to twen- 
ty-five, each flock roosting at night in a large coop having 
a movable bottom, so as to make it easy to clean out. There 



THE CHICK BOOK 



65 



is a wire screen door in front, so as to give plenty of air, 
also to make it vermin-proof at night. 

As to our method of feeding, wc give corn ground rather 
coarse, so the chicks will have something to pick at. Bach 
morning we take what corn meal we want for a day and 
moisten it with milk that has been heated to the boiling 
point, being careful to mix thoroughly so all the meal is 
scalded, thus preventing danger of bowel trouble. We feed 
three times a day just what they will eat up clean each time. 

When they are about three months old we omit the corn 
meal and give whole oats in the morning and noon, and 
whole corn at night. We let them forage through the day 
for bugs, grass, etc.. which they need to keep in good grow- 
ing condition. There is plenty of good clean water for them 
to drink at all times. This is one of the most important 
parts in raising healthy chicks. H. TIBBBTTS. 




BEST OF CARE— PLENTY OF FOOD— WELL VENTI- 
LATED COOPS. 

We give our chicks farm range (farm consists of 269 
acres) and plenty of fresh well water, also a variety of food 

consist ing of 
cracked corn, 
wheat screenings, 
corn bread, pota- 
toes, etc., and 
plenty of natural 
grit from a grav- 
el bank. In au- 
tumn their range 
affords a good 
Fig, 6— Coop Used by Simon Lynch S Son. supply of grass- 

hoppers. Wesweepthefeeding space each day, scald and clean 
the drinking vessels, and try to keep the chicks as free from 
lice as possible by keeping the floor of the roosting houses 
clean and the walls, etc., whitewashed frequently. We aim 
to give at all times the best of care and plenty of food. We 
keep our fowls well sheltered at night in well ventilated 
roosting houses, ranging in size from four by eight feet to 
six by twelve feet. The illustration (Fig. 6) shows a build- 
ing six by twelve feet; front, six feet six inches; rear, 
four feet. The roof projects one foot to protect 
ventilators from rain. The door (D) is two by six 
feet. C C are doors twelve inches, hinged at bottom, to be 
opened for light and thorough ventilation. Above this door 
Is a wire screen six inches wide (B) for ventilation at night 
or when other doors are closed. Above the door, running 
full length of house, is a board four inches wide to give 
support to roof. SIMON LYNCH & SON. 



FARM RANGE— PLENTY OF GREEN FOOD— ROOMY 
QUARTERS. 

We have never aimed to raise over four or five hundred 
chickens a year, as we raise geese and turkeys and cannot 
accommodate a much larger flock. The young have good 
comfortable coops, with board floors, closed up according 
to the weather, with the brood hen confined accordingly. 
They have farm range, an abundance of grass, good wafer 
at all times and plenty of grit. Our coops are too small to 
accommodate them after they are quite large, so as soon as 
they begin to think about roosting on top of coops or a limb 
of the nearest tree, we put them in our large buildings, 
where the most of them are to be kept through the winter. 
Most of our old stock, kept for sitting, laying, etc., has been 
marketed by this time. 

Our buildings are clean and free from vermin. The 
youngsters, if they like, can use the perches, which are two 



inches wide and have rounded edges; or they can roost on 
the lloor, which is earth, thickly covered with straw. There 
is plenty of room either place, with no crowding (chicks 
won't crowd if comfortable). When the cold rains and win- 
ter snows come unexpectedly they are comfortable. They 
are free from colds, nor do they have crooked breasts as 
some might think, for they do not have to go on the percneg 
till they want to. We have had to put as many as one hun- 
dred and fifty in a large room, but that is too many; fifty 
to seventy-five are better. 

These chicks are taught to roam and scratch when quite 
young, and are not over-fed on grain too easily gotten. 
When past their chick food they are fed twice a day with a 
mash consisting of corn meal, middlings and bran, about 
equal parts, scalded and salted. A third meal, the night 
one, consists of cracked corn, wheat or screenings, fed in 
the straw so that they have to work for it. A little meat in 
some form is fed every few days, and they are given any- 
thing in the form of vegetables, cooked or raw, that they 
will eat that we happen to have, and we usually have some- 
thing of the kind. Our large orchard and grove furnish an 
abundance of shade, sometimes too much when it is a little 
cool. We never neglect the young, nor feed them more or 
less in quantity than they require, which varies according 
to age and weather, and no one but the feeder can tell how 
much. We used to overfeed, which is easily done, though 
some people actually starve their poultry and of course have 
"bad luck," while the real cause is death from neglect. 

We do not expect to raise every chick, but are satisfied 
with a good per cent. We lose but few after they are placed 
in the large buildings, and those are by accident. This 
season we expect to keep many of the incubator chicks in 
the brooder houses till late fall or winter. The flocks spoken 
of were raised by hens. B. F. HISLOP. 



A COOL AND SAFE COOP FOR FORTY YOUNG FOWLS 
—MOVED TO FRESH GROUND WEEKLY. 

I have several coops for young chickens that are two 
and one-half feet high at back, three and one-half feet 
in front, three and one-half feet wide and from six to 
eight feet long, with heavy water-proof paper on top of 
roof. I try to set from three to five hens at one time and 
put all the chicks with two or three of them in one of these 
coops. When the chicks are about a week old, if the 
weather is good, I let them out. They will return at night 
and when weaned will roost in these coops of their own 
accord. Then I make a frame in front (two feet wide)^cov- 
ering it with 
poultry netting 
(small mesh). I 
leave an opening 
in the back eight 
inches above the 
roosts and cover 
with wire netting 
The fowls are 
then safe from 
minks, raits, or any other animals 




fig. 7~Mr. D. F. Palmer's Movable Coop 
for Forty Chicks. 



,nd still have a circula- 
tion of fresh air. The roosts In coop are about a foot from. 
the ground. 

I clean the coops once a week and set them on fresh 
ground. These coops will accommodate about forty chicks. 
Late in the fall I line them with paper to prevent drafts, 
and when cold weather comes the chicks are in fine shape to. 
go into the houses. As to food, I am feeding small shrunken 
wheat from the mill. Of course fresh water is before them 
at all times. D. F. PALMER. 



a 



THE CHICK BOOK 



FEEDING THE CHICKS. 

We have had experience in raising chicks in brooders 
for many years and we have been successful. We never 
put more than seventy-five chiclis in a lot and we use the 
dry food method entireiy. Some years ago we found that 
it was not possible for us to give the chicks the time neces- 
sary to success, as our fruit business at times claims almost 
all our attention. We therefore dropped the brooders, re- 
taining our incubators and giving the chicks to broody hens, 
placing the hens in the house formerly used for brooders 
until the weather allowed us to put them outdoors. 

The method of feeding which we employ for chicks 
after being fed for a week or so on crumbs, boiled rice, etc., 
is for morning: One quart sifted cereals, ground fine, one 
pint wheat bran, two ounces meat meal and moisten just 
enough^ to adhere slightly together. Noon, feed cracked 
corn, barley, hulled oats. Feed just what they will eat up 
quickly. At night we feed cracked corn, hulled oats, wheat, 
and a mixture of any small grain we may have. We find 
that the meat meal has been a great help, and all our chicks 
made splendid growth in bone, and we have not the propor- 
tion of puny birds that are so common in nearly every flock. 
We prefer hen-raised chicks for many reasons, and we 
will name some of them. First, you do not get so many 
crowded in a bunch; second, the hens exercise them hunt- 
ing bugs and teach them to hunt for something to eat in- 
stead of lying around waiting for the feeder to come; third, 
our hens will average ten chicks each and thirty hens will 

raise us three 
hundred chick.s. 
which is as many 
as we wish for 
our present quar- 
ters. We give 
Game hens Game 
c*iicks, as they 
win hover them 
iimtil full feath- 
ered and raise 
nearly all given 
them. White Wy- 
andottes leave them in six or seven weeks to do for them- 
selves, and they get colds and the attendant diseases and 
die off. We would rather raise one well developed chick 
than twelve poor ones, and by our method we have few 
eulls. 3. D. & J. W. RILEY. 




Fig. 10— Slatted Front Coop with Door at 
Side. 




Fig, 8-9 — lialf-way Coops to Use Between 
Brooder and Fig. 10. 



THREE GOOD COOPS— MOVING THE YOUNG STOCK 
—COOKED FOOD AND GRAINS. 

I send a pencil sketch of coops used by me. No. 8 is 
the old A coop for hen and chicks. I have found this to be 
about as satisfactory in the long run as more expensive ones. 
No. 9 is a little 
more expensive ^-. > -».->^,^-< =a«a». 

and if made right 
is very conven- 
ient, easily kept 
clean and sate 
from night prow- 
lers. I often 
make use of 
these coops as a 
half-way house from the brooders to coop or house No. 10, 
as I can limit the number of chicks to suit size, weather 
and oither conditions. If the weather is cold and damp I 
often use a jug of hot water, set in the middle of the 
coop. It is a good thing and the chicks appreciate it, as 
one can soon tell. 

I use one incubator, and with it I have three brooders — 
No. 1, one hundred chick; No. 2. three hundred chick; No. 3, 
five hundred chick size, so-called. 

They go from the incubator to brooder No. 1, wnieh I 
have ready for them with a temperature of about 90 degrees 
to start with: from No. 1 to No. 2, then as age and size war- 
rant they go to No. 3. No. 2 has outside runs; No. 3 is an 
outdoor brooder and chicks have a good grass yard and 
plenty of shade. I bunch them up in small colonies of 
about fifteen in the No. 9 coops. Fresh water and grit are 
where the chicks can get to them all the time. 

The food question is one that bothers me more or less. 
All my fowls, old or young, get one cooked ration every day 
— in the mornings. For this I use oats, corn chop, clover 
(cut), bran, shipstuff and beef or blood meal. This is pre- 
pared the night before, and as soon as the young stock get 
old enough they get a portion, the same as the old stock. I 
feed corn chop, wheat and millet, green cut bone and vege- 
tables, tabic scraps, and anything I can find that is good fur 
them. I aim to give my chicks as much variety as possible. 
Oat groats is a principal factor in my food for growing 
chicks. 

E. M. DURHAM. 




A Shelter Coop for Growing Chicks. 



•' i-Ufr- 



PROFITABLE BROILER RAISING, 



This Profitable Branch of the Poultry Industry Discussed In Detail, from the Hen That Lays the Egg to the Profits 

That Go Into the Pockets of the Successful Broiler Raiser— Suitable Breeds for Broilers— Vigor and 

Shape In Breeders — Seasons of Incubation and Prices of Eggs — Seasons of Sales and 

High Prices for Broilers— Period of Growth to Marketable Size— Special 

Foods an Aid to Growth— A Clue to the Profits. 



By A. F. Hunter. 



THERE are several interesting features manifest in dif- 
ferent lines of poultry work, and not the least of 
them is the fascination of broiler raising for the 
beginners. That the promised profits of turning 
eggs into a choice marketable fowl product does fascinate the 
beginner is well known to those who have studied conditions 
in the poultry business, and perhaps the most frequently 
recurring question coming to the poultry editor's desk re- 
lates to one point or another of broiler raising. Nor is this 
surprising when we consider that the changing of an egg 
into a chick is but a matter of three weeks' time, and the 
growth of the baby chick to a marketable broiler is but a 
matter of eight to twelve weeks' time. Somebody says, "An 
egg costs two or three cents, and in three months we can 
turn it into a two-pound broiler which will sell for a dollar; 
that certainly looks an easy way to make money. And it 
would be if every egg produced a chick and every chick 
grew to broiler size and good, marketable condition, and 
sold for fifty cents a pound; but, there are eggs and eggs, 
and there are broilers and broilers, and there are not a few 
diffculties in the way of realizing the Klondike profits which 
look so tempting. That there is a good profit in broiler 
raising there is ample evidence in the sections where market 
poultry is made a business, and where men have continued 
the raising of broilers and soft-roasters for ten, fifteen, 
twenty or more years. That many who embark in broiler 
raising gradually outgrow "the broiler stage" and develop 
into larger things is not surprising. We have in mind 
such widely known poultrymen as A. G. Duston and Wm. 
Ellery Bright as examples of broiler (and market poultry) 
raising having been the stepping stone to the great poultry 
business they have built up; indeed, not more than six or 
eight years ago Mr. Duston wrote interesting and helpful 
articles for the Reliable Poultry Journal upon this subject 
and his poultry plant was planned and built with the inten- 
tion of making broiler raising a prominent feature in his 
poultry work. 

There are great poultry farms where broiler raising is 
a considerable part, or even the chief part, of the work, and 
where incubators are kept running practically the year 
around. On others the broiler work is simply one feature 
of the general poultry work; the intention being to have 
a good crop of broilers to meet the high-priced market, and 
a succession crop of soft roasting chickens to meet the high- 
priced market for roasters, and a general "market poultry 
and eggs" business for all the year. There is still another 
class of broiler raisers, those who turn off their young 
cockerels to market just as soon as they are of marketable 
size, considering them simply a by-product of the general 
poultry work. 

Prices Go TJp, Then Down. 
There is very little sale for broiler chicks in October, 
November and December, at least in the general market; 
some sale there is, to private trade, and in such case very 



little attention is paid to market quotations, the prices being 
simply between the grower and his customer. In January 
there is a light call for broiler chicks, which steadily in- 
creases through February and March and culminates in 
April, then gradually decreases through May, June and July, 
and by August the lowest prices are again reached. These 
lowest prices range from twelve to twenty cents a pound, 
and the highest prices range from twenty-five to fifty cents 
a pound, the sale price depending upon the quality of the 
product and the demand in the market. The chickens must 
be "gilt-edged" to command the highest figures, and if of 
extra fine, "gilt-edged" quality they not only sell quickly, 
but frequently command a premium above highest market 
prices. 

These broilers are In greatest demand in April, 
with a good demand in March and May, with a 
moderate demand from New Year's to August. In 
the best markets, which are those of our greater eastern 
cities, the prices range from about twenty cents a pound 
in January up to fifty cents a pound in April, then gradu- 
ally fall off to about twenty cents again in August. Not all 
two-pound chickens, however, are "high-class" broilers and 
command the highest current prices; to command the high- 
est prices they must be of "the best" quality, must be plump, 
full-breasted, yellow-skinned and fine-boned, and the quicker 
a chicken can be grown to broiler size the better in quality 
it will be. The better the quality the higher the price and 
consequently better profit to the grower. If a two-pound 
broiler costs twelve and a half cents a pound to raise and 
is of such fine quality that it sells for forty or fifty cents a 
pound, there is a profit of twenty-seven and a half or 
thirty-seven and a half cents a pound; if, however, it is 
"off" in quality and sells for ten cents less per pound, there 
is hut seventeen and a half or twenty-seven and a half cents 
a pound profit. This one point of poor quality and conse- 
quently lower price has discouraged (or disgusted) not a 
few broiler raisers, hence the importance of getting eggs 
from stock of the much desired fine-boned, plump-breasted 
yellow-skinned class of fowls, to the end that, if fed right 
and cared for as they should be, they grow (and grow 
quickly) into broilers of the very best class. 

That there has been little change in market conditions 
in the past dozen years is shown by the price-list given in 
the circular of Messrs. W. H. Rudd, Son & Co. in 1891, which 
reads as follows: 

Quotations for Broilers. 

January, demand light 15 to 20c 

February, demand improves 20 to 22c 

March 28 to 35c 

April 35 to 50c 

May 40 to 30c 

June 30 to 25c 

July 25 to 20i; 

August, prices fluctuating 16 to 23c 

September 12 to 16c 

Oct., Nov., and Dec, little demand 12 to 15c 



G(; 



THK CHICK BOOK 



PROFITABLE 
MARHET 
CHICK E^S. 




illustration Referred to by Mr. hunter. 



Mr. Twining's figures give 
us a clue to profits. He teils 
us liis two-pound broilers cost 
liim twc-aty-five cents apiece, 
and divides tlie cost as fol- 
lows: 

Two eggs 5c 

Labor 7c 

Food 8c 

Picking 5c 

Total 25c 

As he and his son did all 
the work, it is obvious that 
ilie seven cents for labor was 
put into his own (and ?on's) 
pockets, and that they got the 
full price of their labor in ad- 
dition to the profits returned, 
''"he figures give us twelve and 
a half cents per pound as the 
cost of a two-pound broiler 
and the market prices ranged 
from twenty to fifty cents a 
pound. A two-pound broiler 
selling at twenty cents a 
pound pays fifteen cents prof- 
it, while the same broiler sell- 
ing at fifty cents a pound 
pays seventy-five cents profit. 
Quite a difference there, and 
the figures show the impor- 
tance of having the product 
ready to market at the time of 
highest prices. This is the 
month of April, but March 
and May also give high prices. 
It takes nine to twelve .veeks 
to grow a two-pound broiler, 
and that means that the 
chicks must be hatched in De- 
cember. January and Febru- 
ary to come upon the market 
in time for best prices. 



In November, 1901, Reliable Poultry Journal, we told 
of a decidedly successful broiler raising business, and gave 
a table of shipments of about four thousand broilers, with 
prices taken directly from Mr. Twining's books. We re- 
print the table so that prices may be compared with those 
of Mr. Rudd, published ten years earlier. 

These returns are from (practically) weekly shipments, 
while the prices in the first table are designed to give the 
average prices for each month. Another point worth notic- 
ing is that Mr. Twining shipped to both Philadelphia and 
New York markets, and sometimes could get a few cents 
better price in one market than in the other. For example. 
May 3rd and Sth shipments to Philadelphia only returned 
him thirty-five cents a pound. He shipped no more for 
nearly two weeks and then shipped to New York and re- 
ceived forty cents for them; another shipment returning 
him thirty-six cents, and not until June 3rd was the New 
York price down to thirty-five cents, which was the Phila- 
delphia price just a month earlier. It is worth noting that 
the Boston prices for May are given as forty to thirty cents, 
which approximates closely to Mr. Twining's actual returns 
ten years later; a comparison of these prices shows that 
theie is but little variation in prices from year to year. 



Table of Shipments and Returns of Mr. Twining's 
Broilers. 



Date. 


No. 
Chicks, 


Returned. 


Price 
Per Pound. 


AprilZS 


50 


$ 25 00 


.50 


25 


50 


27 92 


.48 


May 3 


50 


23.01 


.38 


" 3 


ICO 
50 


38.74 
22.19 


.35 


" 8 . . ., 


.35 


•■ 20.... 


240 


140.74 


.40 


■• 27 


200 


119. C7 


.36 


■• 27 


6 


4.10 


.3S 


Iiuie 3 


201 


123.68 


35 


■■ 10 ... 


6 


4 12 


.35 


■ in 


252 


145 ii 


.32 


■ 17 


13 


7.80 


.32 


17 


250 
250 
209 


132.44 
127.78 
109.85 


..12 


■ ■ '4 


.30 


July 1 


.30 


H 


253 


128.20 


.30 


■■ 15 


205 


98.40 


.28 


■ 22 


157 


81 19 


.28 


■ 29 


274 


102.18 


.23 


Aug. 3 


267 


97.33 


.20 


■ 12 


432 


1'3 16 


.20 


• 13 


120 


33 28 


.20 


■ 1') 


270 


94 02 


.20 


■ V> 


.54 


18.90 


.20 


Totnl 


3.959 


,^l,83<).n3 





Average Price per chick, 46.45 cents. 



THE CHICK BOOK 



G7 



Eggs for Hatching Broilers. 
Tire first problem, and one of the most important to the 
broiler raiser, is the eggs from which to hatch the chicks. It 
is November, December and January eggs thai pro- 
duce the December, January, and February chickenj. 
and eggs in those months are scarce and high. Eggs at this 
writing (February) are selling at forty-five cents a dozen, 
wholesale; nearly four cents apiece. It is evident, then, that 
eggs at this season are worth decidedly more than the two 
and a half cents apiece figured by Mr. Twining. His fig- 
ures, however, extended into and through the period of low- 
est prices foi eggs, and the books showed that his average 
for the (about) nine thousand eggs incubated was nearer 
twonty-five cents a dozen than the thirty cents of the fig- 
ures. We visited a large practical poultry farm early in 
December and found the owner just closing 
a Ciise of fine looking eggs he was sending 
to market. We asked him if he was selling 

any eggs to market poultry raisers and he 
replied, "No, sir! It don't pay to bother with 
that trade. I'm getting forty-five cents a 

dozen wholesale for these eggs, and the most 

that market poultry raisers will pay is five 

dollars per hundred; that isn't dift'erence 

enough to pay me for packing them to ship 

by express and pay for 

correspcmdence, time, 

etc., that it takes." As 

we had visited a mar- 
ket poultry raiser only 

a couple of days before 

and he had exclaimed 

about the difficulty of 

getting good hatching 

eggs to fill his incuba- 
tors, a comparison of 

the 'two differing points 

of view is interesting. 

The one man had the 

eggs in good supply, 

said he was getting a 

hundred and over a day 

and could no doubt ship 

five or six hundred eggs 

a week if the other 

would offer a price 

which would make it 

worth while taking care 

of the orders. Five dol- 
lars per hundred did not 

tempt him, possibly six 

dollars per hundred 

would. 

"Good Hatchable 
Eggs." 

Next to getting eggs 
to put in the incubators 

the mcst important matter is the qualify of 
the eggs, is the getting cf good, strong bodied 
eggs that w-ill haitch out strong, vigorous 
chicks. Indeed, it may we'l be stated that 
the quality of the eggs is the most important point; 
it isn't an impossibility to get one or two or three 
thousand eggs, buit to get eggs whch will turn out a 
i-ea.=ionable proportion of sturdy, "bound-to-live" chicks 
is more difficult. This brings us to "the hens bshind 
the liggs." as it is impossible that eggs be in the best 



shape ,o hatch good chicks unless the hens that produce 
them are in high condition. They must be in per- 
fect health and be fed a food ration that supplies the ele- 
ments of which good eggs are made in addition to 
the food (which must include a sufficient supply of 
green facd to "balance" the grain and animal foods), the 
fowli must be kept in clean quarters, must be kept free from 
vermin, must have an abundance of fresh air to breathe, 
and must have sufficient exercise to keep the circulation 
active and promote good digestion. This looks formidable 
at first, but is really nothing more than common prudence 
dictates, because "the hen that lays is the hen that pays," 
and the hens must have good food and care if we expect 
them to lay. 

The term "quality of the eggs" means much more than 

the average reader 
will realize. It is most 
important that eggs 
for market be of good 
quality, be strong- 
bodied and full-bod- 
ied; if less than this 
they are seconds or 
thirds and sell for a 
lower price. Of how 
much greater impor- 
tance that they be 
strong bodied and full 
bodied if they are to 
be incubated. If weak 




-X \J and watery they can 

f^Vj.\ not hatch good, 

strong chicks. There 

may be sufficient body to 

the egg to nourish the em- 

biyo (and beyond) the critical 

period of exclusion, but the in- 
The Proflloble end Unprofitable Type ^_^^^ ^^^^^^ ^jj, j^^ ^^ ^gg^^ 3^^^, 

in Marliet Fowls. ,■ ■• 

. , ,, „ . feeblo it cannot "make-a-live 

lllustl-f.tion 1' f. r-i' li>l>y Mr. Milliter. 



68 



THE CHICK BOOK 



of it; or it may be still poorer and the embryo die in the last 
week of incubation; and some eggs are so poor the germs 
die in the first few days of incubation. When eggs are veiy 
poor in quality there will be many of these dead germs 
found in the incubator at the end of the hatch, or thrown 
out at the second test; it is perhaps unnecessary to say that 
such poor quality eggs are the most unprofitable and most 
unsatisfactory for the market poultry raiser to buy. 

The Hens That Lay the Eggs. 

The witty "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table" said that 
the education of a child should bagin twenty years before 
the child is born, and, similarly, the strength and vigor of 
our broiler chicks must be planned for one or more years 
before the eggs are laid from which the chicks are hatched. 
The laying hens must be birds with strong constitutions 
and themselves descended from birds that had strong con- 
stitutions. An old poultryman. in an article written for 
the Reliable Poultry Journal a few years ago, says: 

"Instead of beginning with the egg which is to produce 
the chick we go farther back, even back of the hen which 
lays the egg, and find the health and strength of her ances- 
try In other words, we examine her family tree. If, on 
due investigation, we find the hen which is to lay our eggs 
is the offspring of some generations of strong, healthy birds, 
we may safely depend on her giving us the proper material 
on which to build our broiler structure. There never has 
been, and never will be, a successful broiler business built 
up on eggs from other than stock in perfect health and of 
strong vitality. The reasons are plain to see. In order to 
get your quick grown, juicy carcass there must be a torced 
growth from the very hatching, and the chick must have 
the stamina and vitality which alone come through inher- 
itance, and which enable him to stand the hardest feeding 
and keep him busy and happy. The chicken from poorly 
fed, ill developed parent stock of hit and miss breeding 
cannot and will not fill the bill." 

How to get the desired strong constitution is an impor- 
tant consideration, and it is evident that we should both 
breed for it and "select" the breeding birds for it. Prof. 
Graham, of the Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, has 
"■given much study to this subject, and in an excellent article 
published in the Reliable Poultry Journa! he discusses the 
question of the constitution of the breeding stock, and illus- 
trates his points with photographs from birds of both the 
desired and undesirable types. Mr. Graham says: 

"I am of the opinion that one of the mosi important 
points to be considered is constitution. This may have no 
actual market value, but it certainly has much to do with 
the bird's ability to grow and put on flesh. What we want 
is a good feeder and an economical producer. Generally, a 
bird with a short, stout, well curved beak, a broad head, 
not too long, and a bright, clear eye, will have plenty of con- 
stitution. Furthermore, I have noticed that when a bird 
has a long, narrow beak, a thin, long comb and head, and 
eye sunken in the head, it is lacking in constitution. It also 
has a narrow, long body, and in many cases legs which are 
long, and upon which the fowl seldom stands straight. There 
are some exceptions to these points, yet, upon the average, 
if a bird has a good head, the chances are favorable fjr a 
good body, and if a poor head, the opposite may be said. I 
have frequently noticed in Rose Comb breeds, such as Wy- 
andottes, that you seldom see a good shaped one that has 
a long, narrow comb. 

"The neck of the market fowl should be moderately 
short and stout, indicating vigor. The breast is the most 
important point in a market chicken. It should be broad, 
moderately deep; and, if fairly long, will present a fine ap- 



pearance and appear well fleshed. It is quite possible that 
a brnad, deep breast will carry more meat than a moderately 
deep breast of the same width, yet there is no doubt but that 
the latter will present much the better appearance and 
thereby sell quicker, and at a higher price in the market. 

"When considering the length of breast, we must try 
to get it to come well forward (see Fig. 1), and not cut off 
at an angle, as seen in Fig. 2. The body, in general, 
should pretent the appearance of an oblong, when the head, 
tail and neck are removed. We frequently see birds that are 
very flat in front and cut up behind as seen in Fig. 3. This 
class of chickens gives a very short breast; and if it happens 
to be deep, as it is in this bird, you will have, when dressed, 
about as poor a looking chicken as one could wish to see, 
there being a lack of width and lengtn of breast, with ex- 
cessive depth. (Notice the head is narrow and long, the 
body is narrow, the eye is bright, but slightly sunken, the 
legs are long and not straight under the body.) In Fig. 2, 
note the very flat breast, the length of back, the long neck 
and head, the narrow comb, the sunken eye, and the length 
of legs. The breast comes fairly well back, but not well 
forward. In Fig. 1 the bill is short and stout, but not as 
well curved as I should like. Note the breadth of the head, 
the prominence and brightness of the eye, the short and 
stout neck, the great width of the breast, the fullness caused 
largely by the breastbone extending well forward, the short, 
stout legs that are straight under the body, and the width 
between the legs. There is an expression about this chicken 
that impresses one as being the essence of vigor. 

"The back should be broad to give lung and heart capac- 
ity, and, further, this width should extend well back to the 
tail-head. Avoid the wedge-shaped back as seen in some 
fowls that have groat width at the shoulders and taper 
rapidly toward the tail-head. 

"It is much easier to get good shaped market females 
than it is to get good cockerels. * * * The farmers have 
gone to raising big chickens and are asking for large, over- 
grown cockerels for breeders and, further, birds that have 
excessive depth. The result is, we get chickens when dressed 
weighing four to five pounds each that have immense, high 
breastbones and very long legs. These are not attractive 
to the buyers and sell at a less price per pound than plumper 
birds. For example, if given two birds of the same width 
of breast, one is one and a half inches deeper in the breast 
than the other, the result will be, the one bird looks plump 
and sells readily, the other lacks plumpness and sells 
slowly. This can be bred out by using such males as Fig. 1. 

"I wish to have birds as well built as we can get them. 
Fig. 1 is as near the ideal market chicken as I have seen in 
the breed he represents. The hen as seen in Fig. 4 is of a 
good market type. Note the width and fullness of breast. 
As a breeder she is a little fine in bone, and rather too 
small. She has, however, that blocky appearance that is 
desirable." 

There has been tar too great a use of big, coarse breed- 
ing males, the thought appearing to be that size (mere 
"bigness") indicated a strong constitution, and the note 
of warning sounded by Prof. Graham is most timely. In 
broiler chickens, too, fineness of bone is most important. 
The fine-boned carcass gives a larger proportion of meat 
to bone (waste), and the coarser framed bird has the knife- 
edge breast, rather than the round, plump breast which has 
so attractive an appearance. Then, too, the finer boned 
birds take on fat more readily; it will generally be found 
that the birds which will not fatten and that it is seemingly 
impossible to get in good, marketable condition, are the 
long-legged, thin-bodied, angular birds begotten by the big, 
coarse ancestors which have come to be used because of this 



THE CHICK BOOK 



69 



craze for mere "bigness!" If we will but take heed of the 
suggestions given us by Prof. Graham there will be a nota- 
ble improvement in the "type" of bird we send to market; 
tbg improvement in type resulting in a bettering of quality, 
an increased price, quicker sales and better profits to the 
poultrymau. 

I spoke of the remarkable attraction that broiler raising 
seemed to have for the beginners in poultry work, and to 
such the very great bettering of incubators, brooding 
and feeding comes as a great boon. The distressing fail- 
ures, such as I have seen many of, should now be less com- 
mon. One such, in a pleasant town about thirty miles west 
of Philadelphia, is worth citing as a warning. In this case 
two young men trrm the city had thought to better their 
pecuniary condition by broiler raising. They built a hot 
water pipe brooder house a hundred feet long, bought five 
hundred eggs and went to work. A friend with whom I was 
making an over-night visit told me of their poor success, 
and suggested that we drive over in the morning and see 
them. When we arrived we found them contemplating an 
incubator full of eggs which should have hatched the day 
before, and from which not one chick had come. Closing 
the shutters (the incubators were being run in the old 



dampers as the temperature falls or rises from the point 
desired. Moreover, the hovers are not back against the 
walk partition, but out about three feet from it; there is 
no confined (dead) air under such hovers and no possibility 
of chicks crowding each other back against a back wall and 
smothering some. Of course such a brooder house costs 
more than a cheaply built and inadequately heated one, but 
it "raises the chicks," and therefore pays the added cost 
over and over again, instead of aiding to pass them along 
to the fertilizer heap. 

Must Be Well Hatched. 

Chicks to grow well must be well hatched. It is a seri- 
ous handicap to the baby life to have great difficulty In 
getting out of the shell; sometimes the struggle for exclu- 
sion is so violent and e,xhausting that the chick has little 
chance of making a live of it. There are various causes for 
this, such as too high or too low average temperature in the 
incubator, irregularity of temperature, and other eccentrici- 
ties; poor eggs, owing to the laying stock being out of con- 
dition, is another potent cause. With the well made, up- 
to-date and well ventilated incubators of to-day there is 
no reason for poorly hatched chicks if directions are closely 




Colony Houses and Yards for Maturing the Crowing Stock on the Farm of J. D. ISevlus. 



farm house parlor), we tested about half the eggs, and told 
them they hadn't ventilated the incubator at all (appar- 
ently), and their eggs were only about half fertile, so they 
were only entitled to about one hundred and fifty chickens 
anyway. 

The air was "blue" there for a little while, but talking 
did no good, and while they in their lurid dreams had pic- 
tured a chicken hatching from every egg (in winter at 
that!), the potent fact was their work was a failure. They 
had already incubated over two thousand eggs and 
hatched less than three hundred chickens, and the 
brooder house showed at a glance the moment we 
entered it that no one could "raise" chickens in it. 
There was a "chill" in the air that went to the mar- 
row, and chicks cannot possibly be grown in such an atmos- 
phere. The brooder house had been built with half-dried 
lumber, after freezing weather came in the early winter, and 
to save fifty dollars or so a beater two sizes too small had 
been bought. There was no heat except the two flow and 
two return pipes under the hovers, and the hovers were 
close up against the partition along the walk. Compare 
such a defective brooder house with the one in use at Lake- 
wood Farm, illustrated on pages 14 and 15 — A New 
Jei-sey Brooding House. There is a brooder house equip- 
ped with abundant heating pipes under the hovers, having a 
bank of auxiliary heating pipes along the walk, to warm 
the house, and an adequate heater for the coldest weather. 
Then there is an electric regulator connected with a thermo- 
stat under one of the hovers, and which opens or closes the 



followed, provided, of course, that the eggs are good and 
strong. The most important thing is that the right tem- 
perature be maintained in the incubator, and that it be 
steadily maintained. It is wiser to err upon the side of a 
bit too high temperature than letting it run low; it is the 
opinion of incubator operators that just a little too much 
is better than running the risk of the temperature going 
too low. This is especially true in winter hatching. As a 
general rule, the colder the weather the stronger (or slight- 
ly higher) the average temperature should be. 

Running an Incubator. 

The daily task of running an incubator consists of turn- 
ing the eggs twice a day, morning and night, and daily fill- 
ing and trimming the lamp. Ordinarily the lamp trimming 
can best be done about the middle of the afternoon, in the 
interval between feeding the chicks and before the last 
feeding of the hens. About the seventh day the eggs should 
be tested, which is the simple operation of passing the eggs, 
wiUi the large end up, before a testing light and notiug it 
the egg contains a living germ. The germ is a dark (almost 
black), spider-like spot upon the side of the yolk, and the 
stronger and darker the germ appears the better. An egg 
which is absolutely clear is infertile, and should be saved 
out to be eaten in omelettes or scrambled, or sold to the 
bake shop to be used in cooking. Now and then a dead 
germ will be found, evidenced by reddish circles about the 
yolk or a generally cloudy appearance of the egg. These 
should be thrown in the manure pile, or may be fed to hoga. 



:o 



THE CHICK BOOK 



After the test there will be fewer eggs left in the ma- 
chine, but as each egg contains a life and life means aaimal 
heat, we may soon expect to note a slight increase in the 
temperature. This should be met by slightly turning down 
the nut on the regulator rod each day, or every other day, 
as the conditions seem to require. The directions sent out 
with each incubator are the guide to follow, and these direc- 
tions say 103 degrees is the proper temperature to maintain. 
As we said above, we would err on the side of a bit more 
than the designated temperature, rather than fall below it. 
Onfe of the most successful incubator operators of our ac- 
quaintance does not pretend to keep his machines at ex- 
actly 103. He say.? that atmospheric conditions vary, caus- 
ing variations in temperature, and if he keeps between 101 
and 105, with an average close to 103, he gets good hatches 
of strong, vigorous chicks. 

Most operators test the eggs a second time about the fif- 
teenth day. testing out the dead germs and leaving in only 
the strong and vigorous germs. An expert operator can tell 
on the fifteenth day pretty nearly how many chicks he 
will get from the hatch, so familiar does he become with 
appearance and condition o^the strong, vigorous embryo 
chicks. 

When the first chicks begin to pip the shells close the 
ventilator slides almost wholly and keep the doors of the in- 
cubator closed until the liatch is well over: it is better to 
leave the machine entirely alone for the twenty-four to 
thirty-six hours during which the chicks are hatching. A 
good, strong heat even up to 104 or 104%, is desirable at 
hatching time, as the chicks come out faster and better. 
When the hatch is well over open the ventilating slides 
again, to give the baby chicks more air, but do not take 
them from the incubator till twenty^four houi-s after the 
hatch is over. 

Brooding and Feeding the Chicks. 

The temperature under the brooder hovers should be 
about 95 degrees at first, gradually lowering it to 90 degrees 
when the chicks are about a week old, and thus dropping 
about five degrees each week. An experienced chicken 
raiser says he wants the heat under the hovers to be 90 
when the chicks are put in, and that their heat will bring 
the temperature up to about 95 degrees; lower it to 90 by 
end of the first week, 85 at end of second week, 80 at end 
of third week, 75 at end of fourth week, and so on. In such 
a brooder house as the one at Lakewood Farm (mentioned 
•above), the hover pipes are about three inches from sand 
floor in the small pens next the heater where the baby 
chicks are put. The space between pipes and floor gradually 
increases until it is about eight inches at the end furthest 
from the heater where the oldest chicks are brooded. It 
is the custom to move the chicks along as thej' increase in 
size, they being driven from pen to pen through a sliding 
gate in the partition between the pens. 

One of the most successful broiler raisers of my acquain- 
tance has smaller brooder houses (ten of them), each about 
sixty feet long, and the chicks are never moved from the 
pens in which they are first put until they are taken out to 
dress for market. 

On another very successful broiler (and roaster) farm, 
they have removed the hovers from the brooder pens, built 
up the sand floor an inch higher, and the chicks put their 
backs up against the warm pipes. — juFt as they do against 
the hen's body when brooded by a hen. It looks comical 
to see the chicks under and between the hover pipes, their 
tiny heads sticking above the pipes quite frequently. The 
owners say they get better results since they removed the 
hovers, that the chicks grow better and faster. On page 78 



we give an illustration made from a photograph of the in- 
terior of a brooding house on the Jordan Farm, where no 
hovers are used. 

Feeding the Chicks. 

Feeding has been the stumbling block over which many 
a would-be broiler raiser has fallen. The dismal wail of 
"bowel trouble," usually caused by improper feeding tal- 
though too much or too little heat, or a "chill" may contrib- 
ute) has marked the beginning of failure. Here is where 
the great gain in feeding methods has come in, of which 
we spoke at the outset, and which has brought about what 
appears now to be a revolution. Instead of the mixed 
messes of meals, etc., the ready mixed chick foods, consist- 
ing of a large variety of seeds and grains, are fed; with the 
gr.atifying result of comparatively little infant mortality 
and a much more rapid growth. 

The frontispiece of the August, 1903. Reliable Poultry 
Journal was a group made of photos from life, of White 
Wyandotte chicks of different ages, and the article describ- 
ing them gives the following weights of the chicks: 

Newly hatched chicks, per pair 4 ounces 

Four days old chicks, per pair 4 ounces 

Ten days old chicks, per pair S ounces 

Three weeks old chicks, per pair 16 ounces 

Four weeks old chicks, per pair Impounds 

Eight weeks old chicks, per pair 4 pounds 

Ten weeks old chicks, per pair 6 pounds 

Experienced broiler raisers expect to bring broiler 
chicks to two pounds weight (apiece) in ten or eleven weeks, 
and here we have eight weeks old chicks of full two pounds 
weight, and ten weeks old chicks weighing three pounds 
apiece. That difference of two to three weeks clipped off 
from the old time ten to eleven weeks considered necessary 
to grow a two-pound broiler makes a tremendous gain in 
profits. A saving of twenty to twenty-five per cent in time 
greatly increases the capacity of the brooder houses, as well 
as saves so much labor and food; and this in addition to 
the practical elimination of the vexing "bowel trouble" 
problem and the dreaded infant mortality. Assuming that 
the business paid a fair profit as formerly conducted, such 
a saving of time and labor will greatly increase the profits. 

This most successful broiler raiser's method of feeding 
is worth quoting, by way of getting "a point of view." It 
was given as follows: "The chicks are fed five times a day 
on hulled oats mostly, wich a little cracked wheat and millet 
seed added. The cracked wheat is changed to whole wheat 
when they are about a week or ten days old, and cracked 
core is fed after they are a week older, which brings ihem 
to three weeks of age. After this they were fed three times 
a day; a mash in the morning, -.vheat at noon and cracked 
corn at night, with a feed of cut fresh bone the middle of 
the afternoon. The mash is made of either corn meal or 
gluten meal, and wheat bran, with a ration of meat meal, 
light at first and more of it towards the 'finishing off.' 
Green food they get each afternoon, in the shape of lawn 
mower clippings when fne grass is growing; later in the 
shape of rape. In winter finely cut clover is steamed and 
fed them." 

Feeding, he claims, is the crucial point. Said he, "A 
careless or indifferent feeder will do more harm and waste 
more food than the profits amount to. The test of good 
feeding is to keep the chicks just a trifle hungry, and the 
best judgment of the feeder should be brought to bear. His 
rule is to give no food to a pen if there is any left uneaten 
from the last feeding. Many chick raisers mistakably think 
that one feeding missed is a step in growth lost. In a lim- 
ited sense this is true, but a greater loss in growth comes 
from the chicks overeating and the appetite becoming 



THE CHICK BOOK 



cloyed. Not only does a careless feeder waste the food, but 
he puts the chicks out of condition and checks their growth 
by cloying them, by taking away their appetite. If food is 
left, before them all the time they will actually eat less, and 
make a slower growth than if fed judiciously and kept a lit- 
tle bit hungry. 

Another writer, describing the methods of a New Jer- 
sey broiler raiser, says: "At first the chicks are fed the in- 
fertile eggs, cooked, mixed with bread crumbs and rolled 
oats; then gradually corn meal and bran are added to the 
ration. 

"Fattening these small birds is a difficult problem. The 
natural tendency is to make growth instead of laying on 
fat. For the last ten days before killing the ration consists 
of two parts corn meal, one part bran, about ten per cent 
cottonseed meal and from twenty-five to thirty per cent 
beef scraps. This seems like a heavy feeding of meat, and 
of course would not do for chicks that are to be raised to 
maturity. The proper weight for killing, twelve ounces, 
is reached at about six weeks; however, some 
reach that weight sooner than others." 

Tills writer gives six weeks as the time of 
raising these twelve-ounce squab broilers by 
that feeding method. The White Wyandotte 
chicks told about in the Reliable Poultry Jour- 
nal, and whose weights are given above, grew to 
the same weight in exactly four weeks; a saving 
of thirty-three and a third per cent of time, 
brooder house room and labor. That saving 
would! fully double the profits, and that saving 
is made by the improved method of feeding, 
by feeding a ready mixed ration of seeds and 
grains. 

Marketing the Broilers. 

Most broiler chickens are marketed "dry 
picked." This is partly due to the fact that 
the people educated up to appreciating fine 
broilers are critical, and the better appearance 
of the dry picked chicken both enhances its 
value and increases the consumptive demand. 
Most of the picking is done by professionals, 
who are paid so much apiece, and who go from 
one broiler plant to another as work is offered. The usual 
price paid for picking broilers is three to four cents 
apiece, and the picker engaged to pick them not infrequently 
employs "pinners" to assist him. He does the killing and 
"rough-picking," and passes the chicks on to the pinners 
to finish; the pin feathering and cleaning up requiring 
patience and nimble fingers. 

Several excellent articles on "How to Kill and Dry 
Pick," by competent authorities have appeared in leading 
poultry journals, in which the process is most carefully de- 
scribed and the illustrations, showing the different move- 
ments, greatly aid to a clear understanding of the operation. 
We recommend a close study of these articles to those in;er- 
ested in dry picking, 

Nice Work Important. 

It is of great importance that the work be nicely (care- 
fully) done, as a torn and marred chick is less attractive 
and fetcheu a lower prices. The successful broiler raiser 
qucted above pays five cents per chick tor killing and pick- 
ing, and when we commented upon the rather higher price 
than is generally paid he said: "I would rather pay that 
price and have the chicks carefully picked, the man picking 
fifty to sixty chickens a day, than to have a man earn the 
same amount of money by hurriedly picking one hundred a 
day. It is quite easy for a picker to 'skimp' his work, and 



the broilers would be a cheaper looking lot in consequence, 
s'lirinking the price perhaps four or five cents a pound." In 
other words, quality pays in broilers as well as in other 
things, and the fact that this man's broilers frequently bring 
him five cents a pound above the highest market quotations, 
approves the policy of paying the picker a good enough 
price to insure having the chicks carefully picked. 

A good many farmere and small poultry growers ship 
their chickens alive to a commission dealer, who, in turn, 
sells them to a picker, who kills, dresses and markets them. 
Almost always these chicks shipped in alive, are not really 
good broilei's; they are usually "lean" and thin, not plump 
and round, not well-fattened. A good business is done in 
buying up these "range" chickens, feeding them a fattening 
ration for two to three weeks, and then dressing them for 
market; which is somewhat similar to the fattening done 
in England and France, the birds there being almost always 
bought from farmers and small growers, brought to the fat- 
tening station and fattened for market. There is a substan- 




Welt Grown Light Brahma Youngsters, 

tial loss to the grower who does not fatten his own chick- 
ens; selling them in the "lean" condition means that they 
are very poor in quality and sell at a low price if marketed 
at once, if bought by a fattener and put in good, marketable 
condition the fattener gets the bulk of the profits; he gets 
pay for the increase in quantity of flesh and the premium 
paid for the better quality. 

In an article published in the Reliable Poultry Journal 
a few years ago, a writer said: "In dressing chickens 
for market, they are killed by cutting the vein and penetrat- 
ing the brain at a point well back in the roof of the mouth. 
A deep cut at just the right point will so paralyze the nerves 
of the bird that the Leathers will pick very easily, and much 
of the trouble in tearing the skin will be avoided. The 
chickens are dry picked. All the feathers are taken from 
the carcass with the exception of the tips of the wings, and 
from these all the quill feathers are picked. If the birds 
have feathered legs these are also picked. The heads are 
left on. and the entrails are net drawn. After picking and 
carefully pin-feathering, they are dropped into huge tanks 
of water and left a suitable time to cool. In hot weather 
Ih'm water is iced in order to more quickly remove the ani- 
mal heat. They are then rinsed and the blood cleaned 
ficni their heads, and are laid on a bench for the water to 
drain oft. After draining those that are nearest alike are 
paired together, the legs being tied with twine, and they 



THE CHICK BOOK 



are hung in a cool, dark room until the following morning, 
when they are packed and shipped to market." 

There Is Profit in Broilers. 

That there is food money made in raising broilers a 
careful study of the business reveals. There is a great 
demand for this class of poultry meat, and of the best crade 
there is never a sufficient supply; furthermore, the demand 
is constantly increasing and will be still further increased 
by a better average quality of broilers marketed. Another 
point in favor of broiler raising is that the work-season of 
broiler raising for the highest prices comes at a time 
when other work is slack, hence the time utilized in 
the broiler raising is not wanted in other departments of 
the poultry work. Take advantage of the highest prices of 
March, April and May, and produce the very best quality of 
broiler chicks, and the resulting profits will be eminently 
satisfactory. 

The Best Varieties for Broilers. 

The best broiler chick is one that is grown quickly and 
fattens readily, is tine-boned and plump, full-breasted, has 
a rich, yellow skin, and the strong constitution that will 
stand forced feeding. Undoubtedly the American breeds 
most nearly fill the bill. The white and buff varieties have 
the added advantage of freedom from dark pin feathers. 

Visits to the great market poultry raisers south of Bos- 
ton reveal many varieties of stock, used with the Light 
Brahma most in evidence; this is probably due to the fact 
that while raising broilers for market they are by no means 
exclusively broiler raisers, but grow large numbers of soft 
roasting chickens and capons. Next to the Light Brahmas 
a cross of Barred Plymouth Rock male on Light Brahma 
female is popular, and the well-known market poultryman, 
Mr. J. H. Curtiss, places the White Plymouth Rocks at the 
very top of the list tor all-around utility qualities. The 
same can be said of the "May R. Poultry Plant," while the 
Mr. Twining quoted above grew his broilers from Barred 
Plymouth Rock eggs bought of farmers living in his neigh- 
borhood. In all cases excepting possibly the "May R. Poul- 
try Plant" the stock described is "farmers' " stock of the 



varieties, and would no doubt be found lacking in some 
points essential in show birds. 

Different Kinds of Broilers. 

Frequent mention is made of "squab broilers," and yet 
we do not recall ever seeing them quoted in the market 
reports. Generally the squab broilers are little six or seven 
weeks old chicks that weigh, dressed, three-quarters of a 
pound to one pound each; they are split down the middle 
and broiled for individual orders in high class hotels, res- 
taurants and clubs. Mr. Duston tells us he "sold hundreds 
weighing eight ounces each," which is half a pound, and are 
the smallest broilers of which we have ever heard. There 
is a quite steady sale for squab broilers throughout the 
year, but, practically, all the trade is in the hands of dealers 
who have the finest private family trade and that of the 
swell hotels and clubs. 

The broiler of commerce is a one and a half to two 
pound chicken, is split in half and served, broiled 
("grilled") to two customers; a half to an individual cus- 
tomer. In a few instances we have known of these tender 
morsels of chicken flesh being stuffed and roasted, then 
split in halves and served to two individual customers. 

A change has been gradually coming about, in the intro- 
duction of prepared (mixed) chick foods, and these special 
foods have given remarkable results in quick growth. Mr. 
Twining (quoted above) told us he couldn't grow a two 
pound broiler in eight weeks; that it took him nine weeks 
(on an average) to grow a one and a half pound broiler 
and about eleven weeks to bring them to two pounds weight. 
In the frontispiece of August, 1903, R. P. J. are shown some 
White Wyandotte chicks that grew to two pounds apiece at 
eight weeks old, and those chicks were not "forced" at all; 
they were fed one of the special chick foods and made the 
splendid growth there chronicled in the natural manner. 
Obviously there is a decidedly greater profit in two pound 
chicks at eight weeks old than in two pound chicks 
at eleven weeks old; we cut off a fourth of the labor 
and food-charge, and coal for heat, at a stroke. We have 
seen that there was a goodly profit in the plump and juicy 
broiler that grew to two pounds weight in eleven to twelve 
weeks; it is easy to see a still greater profit in the same 
product grown in eight weeks. A. F. Hl'NTER. 







I 



.lf|li!|-|[A- 




A View Showing Some of the Colony Houses Used by the Poultry Department of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, 
Where Much Good Work is Done In the Interest of Frofltakle Poultry Raising. 



SUCCESS AT THE START, 



Thirty-Three Hundred Chickens Alive and In Marketable Condition on the Plant of a Beginner— His Methods Dis- 
cussed— His Plant Illustrated and Described, and It Only Remains to Estimate His Profits. 



By P. R. Park. 



THE town of Hingham, Mass., enjoys the distinction of 
being the home of ex-Secretary Long of the U. S. 
Navy, and one of the largest flocks of thrifty spring 
chicltens in New England. The latter are to be 
found at the home of Mr. H. G. Jordan, upon whose large 
farm they are having an unusually favorable opportunity to 
develop. They are improving all their chances. This seems 
somewhat at variance with the supposedly established rule 
that experience is necessary in order to produce large num- 
bers of chicks and have them thrive from the start. Here 
we have a comparatively inexperi- 
enced owner, and the young man in 
charge of the plant will, we think, take 
no offense if we say he has had almost 
no previous experience with incubators 
and brooders; yet at the time of our 
visit, the last of May, out of about 
3,500 chicks hatched, they had almost 
3,300 alive and promising to stay with 
them until the hatchet intervened. Of 
this mortality of 200, ninety died that 
were hatched from a lot of three hun- 
dred eggs purchased. Here we have 
over three thousand chicks raised, we 
may say, by beginners, and a healthier 
and more robust lot it has not been 
our pleasure to see. 

We have tong been convinced that 
luck does not enter into the keeping 
of poultry. There are certain condi- 
tions which must be met, and if these 
are as they should be, there can be but 
one result, namely, a g'ood lot of 
chicks hatched from the eggs incubat- 
ed, and a large number grown of those 
hatched. We think two of the princi- 
pal elements which have participated 

In the success of the Jordan plant this season have been 
■cleanliness, both as regards old tstock and young, and a 
novel method of brooding, which we have not seen before. 

In the brooder house for the youngest chicks, as well as 
the older ones, there is not a vestige of a hover of any kind, 
simply eight lines of pipe, four running inward and four 
return, kept at a uniform temperature by an electric regu- 
lator. These pipes vary in height from two to three inches 
in the primary class up to eight to ten inches for the larger 
chicks. It is rather a novel sight to see one hundred and 
fifty to one huudred and seventy-five chicks in a brood 
warming their backs upon these pipes apparently the hap- 
piest youngsters in existence without any vestige of the imi- 
tations of Dame Nature that have prevailed in other brood- 
ing systems. 

The natural method, namely, eight to twelve chicks 
cared for by one mother hen, is so distant and different 
from the artificial method that imitations seem fruitless. 




Venlilailog Openings In Celttng and Window in 
Incubator Room on Jordan Poultry Plant. 



The writer has long believed that the principal source of 
mortality among brooder chicks is caused by improper air 
and incorrect temperature surrounding the chicks the first 
three weeks of their lives. With the novel method adopted 
on this plant there can be no doubt that so long as the air 
in the building is pure that of the hover must be equally so. 
When Mr. Jordan first contemplated going into the 
chicken business, he spent quite a little time visiting the 
successful plants and also the other kind in his vicinity^ 
and with rare foresight for a novice, traced most of the mor- 
tality among the various flocks to the 
absence of pure air surrounding the 
chicks and stock in the several stages 
of their deveilopment. When he con- 
structed his plant, he kept these two 
facts in mind, and as will be seen in 
the view of his incubator room, he 
gives an inlet for air through the top 
and an outlet of two holes on the level 
of the floor, one on each side of the 
building opposite each other. Certain- 
ly under these conditions it would be 
impossible for foul air to stay for any 
length of time in this room. 

Following cut this idea, he has hia 
brooder house built with a large num- 
ber of windows in the south side, 
insuring plenty of light and air on 
favorable days, and he uses ventilators 
in the middle of the house in bad 
weather. Pipes, as will be seen in the 
illustration, ai-e eight in number, four 
outward and four return flows, abso- 
lutely devoid of any hover, and the 
temperature is kept at a uniform heat 
by an electric regulator, near the 
heater. This insures a steady tem- 
probability of crowding, for with 
the chicks have no occasion 



perature with no 
the correct temperature, 
to crowd; and if the air in the building is right, that under 
the pipes cannot fail to be equally pure. These pipes are 
from eight to ten inches from the dirt floor of the house, the 
distance being varied by the placing of more or less sand 
in the runs as the chicks vary in age, thus starting in their 
first or baby pen with only about three inches between the 
sand and pipes, and in the end pen, from whicb they gradu- 
ate to house number four, the distance is ten inches, thus 
hardening them off for the cooler temperature of their next 
home. 

In this house the pipes are placed upon the wall and the 
temperature of the building kept at from sixty to seventy 
degrees, otherwise under the same conditions. 

From this latter house they are moved to colony houses, 
which we show in the view of the farm. The rule has been 
this season to place one hundred and fifty chicks in each of 



74 



THE CHICK BOOK 



these runs, commeDcing with the younger ones in the first, 
which is five feet 'by ten feet, and as they grow 
older, removing them to the large runs, which are 
ten by ten feet. These flocks are unbroken until 
they reach the colony houses, when they aim to keep 
fifty in a house eight by eight feet. The chickens, how- 
ever, have hatched so remarkably well this season that in 
many cases they have been obliged to put over two hundred 
in a pen, with seemingly no discomfort to the occupants. 

The method of feeding may be equally of interest to 
many, as this also is quite a radical departure from established 
methods. Here we find chicks started upon nothing but 
hard grain until they reach the age of four days, when they 
are given a dish of ground beef scraps, which is kept con- 



sorb all the beef scraps and cracked corn that their appetites 
dictate is best for them, and with a supply of green cut 
clover, of which the farm furnishes an abundance, they have 
nothing to ask for in the way of food and care. That they 
are improving under all these good things a visit to the 
plant will convince the skeptical. 

Mr. Jordan buys nothing but the best of grain and beef 
scraps, for the keen business foresight with which he man- 
ages one of Boston's most successful coal handling estab- 
lishments, has convinced him that it is not the cost of the 
food or equipments that ruins the unsuccessful poultryman, 
the mortality of the youngsters between the age of one and 
four weeks being the cause assigned for nearly every case 
whore the "plant did not pay." 




A Promising rtoclt in Front of One vf tite Brooding Houses on the Jordan Plant, 



stantly before them through the rest of their happy lives. 
This way of providing food gives all an equal chance and 
there is no possibility of there being any of the grain so;:r, 
to cause bowel trouble and other ailments. The chicks are 
given the run cf a yard after they reach the age of seven 
days, which yards are also kept pure by the growing of 
green stuff between season^. 

After they reach the age of six weeks, cracked corn is 
added to their diet, and is kept ahvays before them. This 
system of feeding is, we think, the only one that couid be 
carried out with such large flocks as we find on this plant. 
Under the old system of mash feeding, the rush and scram- 
ble for their share soon make it a case of the survival cf 
the fittest, and the younger and weaker ones do not get 
their proportion of the rations, so the gap between them 
and their more successful brothers grows wider with each 
day. linder this system each one has plenty of time to ab- 



The previous experience of the foreman, Mr. Young, 
with poultry is represented practically by a cipher, he hav- 
ing lived in the state of New Jersey on a large stock farm, 
with no sperrial liking for the poultry business, simply un- 
dertaking it at Mr. Jordan's request, possibly until he could 
get an experienced man. The success which came to him 
from the first rapidly interested him in the business, and 
at the present time he is fascinated with the business as the 
rankest enthusiast of years' standing. 

There is a sanitarium in East Bridgewater for curing 
consumption in the human family simply by makng the 
patients sleep out of doors, or what amounts to that, winter 
and summer, and why should not the chicken man adopt 
for his feathered pets, who are much more creatures of the 
air than the human family, similar methods? 

That Mr. Jordan's plant will be a success this season is 
an assured fact, for at the present time the Boston market 



THE CHICK BOOK 



75 



is paying for soft roasting chicks 37 cents per pound, and 
he has three separate buyers offering 30 cents a pound alive 
at his door. All the niale birds have been caponized and 
cannot fail to suit the most fasitidious market In the coun- 
try, namely, Boston. 

Jealous neighboi-s are telling Mr. Jordan and his fore- 
man that they cannot repeat their this season's success 
another year. Whether they can or not, of course, time 
only will tell, but Mr. Young is very confident, and we think 
with good reason, that if given the same conditions, he can 
repeat the success and better it in some particulars. We 
would offer him only a few suggestions — that a little more 



elbow room be given the growing stock and a number of 
the three hundred and sixty-five broad acres which Mr. Jor- 
dan owns be added to the yards now used in caring for the 
birds after they leave the brooder house. We suggest also 
that they be allowed to pick their own clover instead of 
bringing it to them. Good grazing land is, in our opinion, 
as important to the successful and cheap growing of poultry 
as to that of any other class of stock. Good birds have no 
opportunity to develop on a sand bank, and should not oe 
forced to exist there. Bugs and worms make up a large 
part of their living and these are not to be found without 
plenty of good grass for them to grow among. 



PROFITABLE ROASTING CHICKENS, 



flow Large, Soft-Meated Chickens Are Produced for the Season of High Prices—The Advantage of the Balanced 
Ration— Caponlzlng the Males to Be Sold as Roasters— A Profitable Adjunct on the Farm. 



By A, F. Hunter. 



THAT there is a goodly profit in growing soft roasting 
chickens for market is very evident to the student 
of poultry conditions, and there are many poultry 
growers who maintain that the turning of eggs into 
chickens and growing them to soft-roaster size is not only 
the most profitable, but is the most satisfactory line of poul- 
try work. When talking one time with Mr. Rankin about the 
profitableness of poultry work, we stated that we could make 
three dollars profit in a year from a pullet that came to lay- 
ing maturity in October, laid one hundred and fifty to one 
hundred and seventy-five eggs within a year, and then was 
sold to market. "\'es," said Mr. Rankin, "and I can make for- 
ty dollars a year profit from the same bird, by turning her 
eggs into chickens and growing them to market size." As ex- 
perienced growers estimate that there is a hundred per cent 
profit in the business, it would need that eighty chickens 
be grown to roaster size and average to sell at a dollar each 
to give the forty dollars profit Mr. Rankin said he could 
make, and as an experienced poultry grower recently told 
me he planned to raise about two thousand chickens a year, 
and that they cleaned up about one thousand dollars a year 
profit, apparently Mr. Rankin's forty dollars a year profit 
per hen, if her eggs are turned into chickens and the chick- 
ens grown to soft-roasters, is reasonable. 

Obviously the price at which the chickens are sold has 
not a little to do with the amount of profit in the business. 
and as soft-roasting chickens are highest in price in May 
and June, with March, April, July and August giving good 
prices, it is the chickens raised especially for marketing 
•during those months that pay the best profits. In the an- 
nual circular of Messrs. Rudd & Son, of Boston, the prices 
for roasters were given as follows: 

Month. Prices. 

January 15 to 20c 

February 20 to 22c 

March 20 to 25c 

April 20 to 250 

May 25 to 30c 

June 30 to 40c 

July 36 to 25c 

August 20 to 23c 

September 14 to 20c 

October. November and December 12 to ISc 



It takes four or five months to grow a chicken to from 
tour to six pounds weight, and with May and June giving 
the highest prices, it is evident that the chickens should be 
hatched in January and February to be grown for market- 
ing in the months of highest prices. As a matter of fact, 
we find soft-roaster growers hatching their chickens all 
through the late fall and winter, as the supply of hatchable 
eggs permits, and they are marketing the chickens all along 
from March to July, as the demand of the market and the 
condition of the chickens warrants. 

In a great poultry growing section of South Jertey 
there are chickens hatched late, say in June and July, and 
grown to an average size of about six pounds, or as large as 
they can he grown and still retain the "soft" condition of 
flesh, then dressed for market; if the market conditions do 
not warrant their being sold at once thoy are put in cold- 
storage and held until wanted. An illustration of this I saw 
at the poultry shipping depot of Mr. Thomas Allen, in Feb- 
ruary, 1902. Mr. Allen's teams had brought in about 
two tons of soft-roasting chickens that day, and they 
were being packed in barrels to go into cold-storage to await 
the market demand. Mr. Allen told me he had paid one 
man that day forty dollars for thirty-three birds, an average 
of about one dollar and twenty cents apiece, and he said 
those birds were probably hatched in July, which would 
make them about seven months old when killed for market. 
Visiting the great poultry section south of Boston last 
November I found poultrymen with one to two thousand 
chickens already out. started on the road to become soft- 
roasters. The Messrs. Farrar Brnihers, of Assinippi, had 
over two thousand chickens then, and were going on to 
about forty-five hundred, which is their usual number; the 
Jordan Farm had then over a thousand growing and were 
hatching right along. The Messrs. Farrar get their chickens 
to from four to six pounds weight, and report their highest 
price last season as thirty-two cents, with an average for the 
whole season of about twenty-five cents a pound. At that 
average price their birds sold for one dollar to one dollar 
and fifty cents apiece, with a mean price of one dollar and 
twenty-five cents apiece, and something like fifty per cent 
of that may be fairly estimated as profit; in other words, 



76 



THE CHICK BOOK 



they make about one hundred per cent on the cost of hatch- 
ing and raising a four to six pound soft-roasting chicken. 

The Breeds Preferred. 

In nearly all cases it is found that the Asiatic, or crosses 
of Asiatic and American varieties are used to make these 
extra fine soft-roasters. In the poultry section south of 
Boston from which so many roasters come to market the 
Light Brahma is the breed used; in south Jersey it is gener- 
ally a cross of Light Brahma-Partridge Cochin, or of Light 
Brahma-Plymouth Rock. It is necessary that the birds be 
of great size normally, then they will attain the desired 
large size while still having the essential "soft" flesh of the 
young chicken. A change in conditions is gradually coming 
about, however, partly due to the farmers of south Jersey 
taking thought of the profitableness of the egg side of the 
Business, which is bringing the better laying American varie- 
ties into favor. Then, too, the introduction of improved meth- 
ods of feeding, making it possible to grow a Plymouth Rock 
chicken (for example) to as great size and more quickly than 
an Asiatic, is causing a gradual change in front, even in the 
great stronghold of the Brahmas south of Boston. In a 
recent number of Reliable Poultry Journal is an illustration 
of a pair of soft-roasters that made the astonishing growth 
to twenty-three pounds, alive, at six months old, and the 
larger one weighed eleven pounds dressed. Those chickens 
were Barrea Plymouth Rocks, and that wonderful growth in 
six months is an eye-opener. Those chickens were grown 
by one of those south-shore poultry growers and dressed for 
market by the great market poultrymen of that section, 
Messrs. J. H. Curtiss & Brother. The change of front in that 
section was indicated by a remark made to me by Mr. Cur- 
tiss a few days ago, when he emphatically stated that he con- 
sidered the White Plymouth Rock to be the best all-around 
variety of fowls in the world. When we remember that he 
is a life-long lover of the Light Brahmas, and has always 
considered them the best market poultry variety, we may 
well be surprised at such a change. The explanation lies in 
the simple fact of the quicker growth of the Rocks by the 
improved method of feeding the prepared (and accurately 
balanced) ration. 

The Males Are Caponized. 

All the males are caponized by these south-shore poul- 
try growers, even though almost all of them are sold as soft- 
roasters; but very, very few of them go to market as capons. 
They are caponized at about three months old, and the gain 
is :n the fact of their more peaceful disposition. The unca- 
ponized cockerel is of a most pugnacious and quarrelsome 
disposition, and his quarreling hinders his growth, besides 
the greater activity promoting the hardening of the flesh. 
As it is essential that the flesh be "soft," it is easy to under- 
stand that capouizing is necessary to the keeping of the 
right condition. In the south-shore section of which we 
hava been writing there are many thousand chickens raised 
each year, and Mr. J. H. Curtiss, who is an expert caponizer, 
caponizes the males for scores of the poultrymen. For this 
service he charges four dollars per hundred chickens, and 
is much in demand among his neighbors. The influence of 
such a man as Mr. Curtiss, in promoting the growing of 
"better poultry and more of it," is beyond estimating. With- 
in a half dozen miles of his home there are from thirty to 
fifty thousand chickens grown for market each year, all fine 
soft-roasters and capons, and the importance of that small 
section of country as a poultry center is made manifest by 
its having given a name to a superior quality of chickens 
grown there; "south-shore" chickens are quoted as the 
highest standard for quality! 



As a Farm-Product. 

The poultry growing above described is chiefly in the 
hands of those who make a specialty of growing fine soft- 
roa.sters for market, but that the business is highly profit- 
able to farmers, who make the growing of two or three or 
four hundred chickens for market annually an adjunct of 
their regular farm work, there is ample evidence. In the 
south Jersey section of which I wrote the chickens are al- 
most entirely grown by farmers. In the Reliable Poultry 
Journal not long ago, I described these south Jersey poultry 
growers as follows: "It may not be quite fair to speak of 
these poultry growers as 'poultrymen,' because, as a rule, 
the birds are grown on the farms as a branch of farm work, 
and are mostly grown by the women of the farms, while the 
men are engaged in the regular farm occupations; two or 
three hundred up to five hundred would be the usual yearly 
product of a farm. It needs but a little arithmetic to dem- 
onstrate that a branch of farm work which produces three 
hundred (or even two hundred) roasting chickens which 
bring one dollar to one dollar and twenty-flve cents apiece 
when sold is a quite important department of the farm; we 
doubt whether any other one department produces so much 
cash income for the amount of labor and capital expended! 

"Comparatively few of these poultry growers use incu- 
bators; the bulk of the chickens are hen-hatched. Incuba- 
tors were attempted here and there some years ago, but the 
generally poor results discouraged their use; latterly, since 
a better class of incubators is being put out, they are com- 
ing to be used more. It is interesting, too, to know that 
these choicest chickens are not artificially fattened — no 
cramming machine is used. They are put into large coops, 
that are four feet wide by six to ten feet long, with a 
trough along the front to hold the food. The food is a corn 
meal mash, mixed up with skim-milk when it can be ob- 
tained. Sometimes the milk supply is not equal to the 
demand and then water is used. The fattening takes from 
four to six weeks. 

That the profit is not all for the grower of winter chick- 
ens is also evident. I have before me the account of a poul- 
try buyer, which shows the figures of the poultry sales of a 
small farmer in Worcester county, Mass. These chickens 
were hatched in the late winter, and sold alive during May 
and June as soft-roasters of about four pounds weight. The 
farmer said that branch of his farm work had paid him 
over fifty dollars a month net profit for the six months' 
work. The figures of the sales, taken from the buyer's book, 
are as follows: 

No. of Chickens. Sum Paid, 

57 $ 52.90 

52 48.95 

104 94.87 

106 95.04 

106 98.72 

75 69.96 

63 51.10 

68 58.50 

45 39.12 

51 27.79 

727 $636.95 

This is an average of about ninety cents per chicken, 
and as the grower claimed that they cost to raise not far 
from forty-five cents apiece and sold for just about double 
that, he made about one hundred per cent profit on them. 
He does not keep a hard and fast account with his chickens; 
he knows they pay him a very substantial profit, and that 
satisfies himi 



THE CHICK BOOK 



7"! 



The Demand Is Greater Than the Supply. 

The market is never over supplied with the best quality 
of poultry products, and this seems especially true of fine 
soft-roasters. Marketmen tell us they can never get enough 
of them to supply the demand, and such commonplace re- 
marks as: "I could sell twice as many, if I could only get 
them," is the answer to a question as to there being too 
many of them grown. We all know the reply Webster made 
to the man who asked if the legal profession wasn't over- 
crowded, — "There is plenty room at the top." This applies 
with especial aptness to the best soft-roasters we have been 
describing. There may be an over-supply of a cheaper 
grade, but of the best there is never enough to meet the 
demand. The increase of wealth r.nd population has result- 



It is a truism to say the best pays the best; we all know 
that. And not only does it pay the best, but there is the 
most satisfaction in growing the best! Here is a double 
reward. We not only get the greater profit which comes 
of producing the best, but we get the satisfaction of being 
producers of a high-class article of food that is always in 
demand in the market. It is the plump, full-breasted, fine 
meated birds that the consumers want and are willing to 
pay a good price for, — and if we but produce that article 
our reward is sure. 

A considerable study of the soft-roasting chicken re- 
veals several surprises, and one of them is the almost in- 
numerable methods of feeding employed. In fact, it is with- 
in the bounds of truth to say, there is no one "method" of 




Interior of a Brooding House on the Jordan Poultry Plants Showing Pipes for Warming tite fiouse. 



ed in a steadily increasing demand for the best products of 
the poultry man's art. Wealthy families, leading clubs, 
hotels and high-class restaurants, all compete for the gilt- 
edged soft-roasters of the e.xpert poultrymen, and they are 
willing to pay almost any price, within reason, if the desired 
quality is presented. In fact, they will pay what they have 
to pay in order to get what they want. Poultrymen should 
study the market requirements, and then strive to meet 
them. The well-known fruit grower, Mr. J. H. Hale, of 
Connecticut, in an address in which he urged fruit growers 
to study the market conditions so as to know what the peo- 
ple want, said: "The fine appearance opens the customer's 
pocketbook, and then quality keeps it open." There is a 
most important economic principle completely stated in 
"those few words. The fine appearance of an article induces 
a customer to buy, and good quality in the article keeps him 
buying. 

(.of 



feeding; each poultryman feeds what he esteems to be a 
good growing ration, and, indeed, this is the one es.sential 
thing. The great point to be aimed at is a steady, con- 
tinuous growth till market maturity is reached, then market 
in the best condition. Within the past two or three years 
prepa,red chick foods have come into very general use, and 
have given .such excellent results they are likely to be still 
more generally used. The method is to feed them exclusively 
for the first five or six weeks, adding a little beef scraps 
or meat meal, and after about six weeks adding cracked 
corn to the ration. The essential thing is the increase of 
the meat food and cracked corn until, the last half of the 
period, half the ration is of those two foods. With this 
ration a continuous and rapid growth is secured, and the 
birds are in fine, fat condition all the time, and are ready 
to market any time wanted. Of course such a rich ration 
would not do for laying-breeding stock. Birds grown upon 

r, 



(S 



THE CHICK BOOK 



it would be soft, and wholly lacking in stamina, or con- 
stitution. Where the birds are to be marketed by the time 
they are four to seven months old the constitution need not 
be considered, if the birds have sufficient to stand heavy 
feeding and continue putting on good, fatted flesh. The 
important thing is that growth shall be continuous and 
rapid, and the best quality of flesh attained. 

Marketing Soft-Boasters. 

The chickens above described are all dry picked, and as 
a rule are marketed by special dsalers. In the south shore 
section the birds are generally sold alive, to such dealers as 
Messrs, J. H. Curtiss & Brother, or Mr. Farrar, and picked 
by their men. In the south Jersey section the birds are 



visible under the skin of the breast. That discolored ap- 
pearance of those two chickens distinctly marred their 
otherwise fine appearance, and cheapened them. Experi- 
enced caterers know that the juices of the meat are less 
fine and not as pleasing to the palate where that decaying 
bunch of food is left in the crops and gizzards, and refuse 
to buy such chickens if better are getable. The seller has 
sold a few more ounces of weight in each dozen birds, but 
had lowered the price several times the gain in weight. 
Lowering the quality invariably lowers the price of chicken 
meat, just as of everything else in the world! 

There is no one thing that poultry growers so much 
need to learn as that good appearance and fine quality are 
most important factors in their profits. 




Interior Weiv of a Brooding Mouse, where no Hovers are Used, on the Jo!dan Poultry Plant, 



mostly picked by the farmers, and bought up by such deal- 
ers as Allen of Glassboro, who packs and ships them to New 
York, Boston or Philadelphia, as the markets in those cities 
warrant. 

It is of the greatest importance that the work of pick- 
ing bs nicely done. The tender, "soft" skin may be so torn 
and marred that a decidedly lower price will be returned 
for the birds. The importance of a good appearance cannot 
be too frequently urged. It is safe to say that thousands 
of dollars are lost to poultry growers each year because cf 
their ignoring this point. Take the one simple matter of 
the birds being starved (literally not fed or watered) for 
twenty-four to thirty-six hours so that the crop and gizzard 
shall be entirely empty at time of killing. Only yesterday 
we stopped at a marketman's window in Boston to look at 
a display of fine roasters. Two of them had not been 
starved before killing and there was a small greenish crop 



Many poultry growers cannot understand that it is the 
"condition" in which stock arrives in the market that deter- 
mines its value, and seem to think that because it was good 
stuff when they sent it they should have the highest market 
price for it. A shipper who sends chickens into the market 
that chow the eftects of the soft weather will not receive the 
price of that which is marketed bright and fresh. 

.\n amusing case of this kind came up in Boston a few 
years ago. A farmer sent a case containing two dozen 
ducks on a Saturday morning in summer, and they lay in 
the express office o\'er Sunday. When they reached the 
commission dealer on Monday morning they were so "soft" 
they were practically unfit for human food. Just as the 
dealer got them open the keeper of an Italian boarding 
house came in, looking for special bargains, and the 
dealer called his attention to the ducks. The boarding 
house man turned them over, felt of them, and then said 



THE CHICK BOOK 



79 



he'd give ten cents a pound for them. The oiler was ac- 
cepted joyfully; the case quickly nailed up and delivered to 
the buyer; and a letter written to the shipper detailing the 
faces and enclosing a check for the full amount received; 
the dealer was so glad to get them out of his place before 
the food inspector got a whiff from them and condemned 
them to the garbage cart he didn't say anything about com- 
mission on the sale. The farmer came right in, raving: 
said ducks were quoted at twenty-three cents a pound the 
day he shipped them, that his ducks were as good as Blank's 
that the dealer had returned twenty-three cents for, and he'd 
have the full price for those ducks or he'd sue the dealer, 
denounce him as a cheat, etc., etc. He didn't sue, the dealer 
never saw or heard from him again, but that poor farmer 
probably still thinks (it he is living) that the commission 



A reader in Sandy Point, Maine, writes: "We have 
been much interested in your articles in regard to the ship- 
ments of eggs and poultry to Boston. We had an experience 
which leads us to desire a littk- more information. We 
have made a specialty of growing large roasters for our local 
market, and up to last fall were unable to fully supply the 
demand. The birds most desired are those weighing six to 
eight pounds apiece, as the people say they have something 
to out from (instead of picking bones) with birds of that 
weight; but last fall the mills were obliged to close, throw- 
ing many people out of employment, and the poultry market 
here collapsed. We accordingly sent a portion of our sur- 
plus to our egg commission merchants at Boston. The birds 
were hatched late in May and the first shipment made 
October 27th weighed sixty-five pounds to the dozen; the 



^rH^ 




Bird's-eye View of a Part of the Jordan Poultry Plant. 



dealer is a fraud and cheat, and put in his own pocket the 
difference between ten and twenty-three cents a pound for 
that lot of ducks! 

The old, old saw: "Water always finds its level," ap- 
plies with great force to poultry sent to market. If it is 
stuff of the best quality be assured you will get the price 
of the best; if it is only second, or third, or fourth rate 
stuff be assured you will not get the price of the best. If 
you send poultry to market and get only the price of second 
or third quality stuff, don't sit down and swear that the 
commission man is a cheat and fraud. Write him and ask 
why he didn't give you the higher price, and then go to 
work to improve the quality of your stuff until you can send 
the best. Grow the best standard-breds, ship them to mar- 
ket in the pink of condition, and you will have no worries 
about the price! 



second, made November 12th, weighed sixty-seven pounds 
per dozen, and the third, made December 9th, weighed sev- 
enty-two pounds per dozen. The first two lots sold at eigh- 
teen cents d pound, then practically the top price, but the 
third brought only sixteen cents a pound. Now in our local 
market the last would have been regarded as the best, but 
the Boston commission men wrote us they were "large, but 
coarse and staggy," and they could not obtain the highest 
price; that "soft-roasters" were wanted. These birds were 
all of the same age, but the interval between Novmber 12th 
and December 9th, while adding to the weight, placed them 
in a lower class. 

What we would like to know is: 
First — When the soft-roaster becomes a stag? 
Second— Did we not grow our birds fast enough, whefi at 
five to five and one-half months old they dressed five and 



lAY 15 1905 



80 



THE CHICK BOOK 



one-half to six pounds, or don't they want birds of that sizeS 

Third— Should we have shipped them at four to five 
pounds weight? 

We want to meet conditions which will give us top 
prices; it is easy to get bottom prices any time." 

Replying to these questions: 

First— Cockerels of different varieties become "staggy" 
at different ages, and as you fail to mention the variety you 
raise we arc in the dark. As most of the stock raised in 
Maine is either Barred Plymouth Rocks, R. I. Reds or White 
Wyandottes, we will assume that yours are of one of the 
American varieties, and cockerels of those varieties begin to 
get staggy when about six or seven months old, depending 
on the treatment. The method of feeding has an influence 
in hastening or retarding maturity. 

Why didn't you ship your birds all in at once, and so 
be rid of them? The dozen shipped November 12th brought 
you twelve dollars and six cents, while the dozen sent in 
December 9Lh brought you but eleven dollars and fifty-two 
cents; you had fed them about four weeks longer and then 
got less money for them. This is one of the commonest 
mistakes of farmers, they don't market their stuff when it is 
ready for market, but carry it along at a loss of the food 
consumed and at the risk of getting a lower price. 

Second — We think you didn't grow the birds fast 
enough, when they only got to five and one-half to six 
pounds at five to five and one-half months old, and they 
would have been of a better quality of flesh, — would have 
been "softer," if fed a quicker growing ration and brought 
along earlier. That is another point on which many poul- 



try raisers do not discriminate; they raise all the birds 
alike, feeding them the same foods, whether they are to be 
killed for market or raised for laying-breeding stock. Then, 
too, the amount of range allowed them is a factor. PYee 
range encourages the growth of muscle, and muscle is 
"hard" flesh. If you want to grow fine, "soft" chickens do 
not let them run all over the farm, — keep them confined to 
moderate yards, and feed them more heavily of corn meal 
and beef scraps (or meat meal). 

You would probably have done better to have shipped 
the birds at four to five pounds weight. The great bulk of 
the trade prefers chickens weighing eight to ten pounds the 
pair although there is a good sale for larger birds, and in 
the spring l(say in March), the larger birds sell more read- 
ily. If your local trade prefers large birds you should 
caponize the cockerels, and then they are "soft" ever after, 
and will grow to eight to ten pounds without becoming 
"staggy." You are not obliged to sell them as capons be- 
cause you have caponized them. The popular "south shore" 
chickens of which you have bef^n reading are caponized, 
but dressed and sold as soft-roasters. 

Caponizing is so easily done, and is so great a benefit 
in many ways, it is surprising that more poultry growers 
do not adopt it. A set of special tools can be bought of 
poultry supply dealers for about three dollars, and with it 
the nagging, scrappy cockerels are easily turned into docile, 
tractable birds, that have nothing to do but eat and grow. 
They remain "soft," and their flesh doesn't harden into 
muscle, as the cockerels do when they turn "staggy." Capon- 
ize all the males not wanted tor breeding birds. 

A. F. HUNTER. 




T£LL HOW TO 



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